Inter midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu feels that this evening’s Champions League victory over Barcelona was a demonstration that the team still fights for coach Simone Inzaghi.
Speaking to Italian broadcaster Sky Sport Italia after the match, the 28-year-old made clear that everyone in the squad still supports Inzaghi, as shown by their performance against the Blaugranas.
Inter did not have it all their own way against Barcelona, as they had to sit back and absorb a lot of pressure, but in the end the entire team defended well as a united to keep Blaugranas danger man Robert Lewandowski quiet for much of the match.
A clean sheet that was very welcome in the context of some of the Nerazzurri’s defensive struggles this season meant that Calhanoglu’s long-range effort in the first half was enough to give the team three massive points in their Champions League group.
Asked if the win was for Inzaghi, Calhanoglu replied “Of course, we’re all with the coach.”
“He always needs our help,” he continued, “I think he was happy because he saw a team out there fighting for him.”
Of the team’s recent struggles for form, the Turkish international said that “We spoke a lot about this period, today we played the match we wanted to play.”
“We were ready, we knew we had the fans behind us,” he continued.
“Everyone knew we were strong but we had to show it by playing well and doing a great job in defense,” Calhanoglu said. “We deserved it.”
As to why the team hasn’t managed to play like this all season, the 28-year-old admitted that “We got our attitude wrong, we said to ourselves that that was the first thing we had to change. Today our attitude led us to win.”
