Inter might be six points clear at the top of Serie A but they didn’t make a huge impression on Atalanta striker Duvan Zapata last month.
Antonio Conte’s side were made to work very hard against the Bergamaschi at San Siro, but eventually they came away with a 1-0 win thanks to Milan Skriniar’s second-half strike.
Asked if the Nerazzurri had played like Serie A’s strongest team when they faced Atalanta, Zapata admitted he wasn’t blown away by their performance.
“In all honesty, no, I didn’t get that impression,” Zapata told Gazzetta dello Sport in an interview for Thursday’s print edition.
“Inter won, but they struggled against us, like they have every time they’ve played us.
“Results don’t always respect your merits.
“I think Inter are first because they’ve had more time to work on smaller details since they were knocked out of Europe.”
Zapata is often compared – somewhat lazily – to Romelu Lukaku, but the Colombian seems convinced the two strikers are more different than people realise.
“We’re not that similar,” the 30-year-old argued.
“Lukaku is having a great season but even he struggled beforehand.”
Zapata was also asked to name the toughest defenders he’d played against in Serie A and picked one of Inter’s current back three in second place.
“Merih Demiral at Juventus really is tough and fast, and then Stefan de Vrij,” he responded.
Zapata has scored 14 goals and provided 12 assists for Atalanta in all competitions this season.