Inter captain Samir Handanovic believes that the Nerazzurri can win against Lazio this evening in spite of having fallen to defeat at the Stadio Olimpico in October.
Speaking to InterTV ahead of the match, the 37-year-old emphasized that the Nerazzurri had not performed badly in their first encounter with the Bianconeri but had just come out the losers in the key moments.
Inter suffered their one loss of the campaign so far against Lazio despite going ahead early through an Ivan Perisic penalty.
The Biancocelesti got their equalizer from the penalty spot before Felipe Anderson put them ahead in circumstances which left the Nerazzurri feeling hard done by, with Federico Dimarco laying on the ground recovering from a heavy ground.
Now, the Nerazzurri have a chance to avenge the loss as they host Maurizio Sarri’s team, and Handanovic feels confident that they can get three points from the clash.
“We’re feeling great desire,” he said, “when you go on a break you always feel a strong desire to get back on the pitch. There is a great desire in the team, we’re ready and we can’t wait to start the game.”
He went on that “At the Olimpico we played an excellent match. Unfortunately sometimes games are decided by key episodes, and we didn’t manage them well in that game.”
For this evening, he emphasized that “We have to play our game, as we prepared for. We have to do what we planned for and get the win.”
Asked whether the Nerazzurri are feeling the pressure of AC Milan being top of the table for the moment after their win over Venezia earlier today, he replied “No, I don’t think so because it’s still only halfway through the season.”
“It doesn’t mean anything right no,” he added, “it must also be said that we still have two games in hand, we don’t feel any strong pressure.”
