Inter defender Alessandro Bastoni feels that the excellent assist that he played to Nicolo Barella for the Nerazzurri’s opener against Benfica this evening was only what his teammate would have expect of him.
Speaking to Italian broadcaster SportMediaset after the match, via FCInterNews, the 23-year-old joked that, had he not picked up Barella’s run, then the midfielder would have been very annoyed with him.
Barella scored Inter’s all-important opening goal at the Estadio da Luz, but in truth the ball in from Bastoni was at the very least as important as the former Cagliari midfielder’s header.
The match had been balanced on a knife’s edge throughout the first half, and the Nerazzurri found themselves under quite a bit of pressure at the start of the second.
However, Inter began to play their way into it after a bit, and then it was a moment of real quality from Bastoni that finally shifted the balance of the match.
The 23-year-old carried the ball some way forward, and then, urged on by his coach Simone Inzaghi, floated an extremely well-weighted cross into the penalty area.
Bastoni’s cross met the head of Barella’s who had made an incisive run to find himself free just a few yards out from the Benfica goal, and for his part the defender feels that his teammate would have been none too pleased had the service not arrived after he had made that attacking run.
“The linkup with Nicolo Barella is now a well-worn thing, I always see him making certain movements and then if I don’t get the ball to him he gets p*ssed off, so I always try to pass it in that position,” the 23-year-old joked after the match.
Of some of the team’s recent matches which have seen disappointing results, Bastoni said that “We’ve created a lot of chances and our attitude has never been lacking, but the goals to kill off the matches never came.”
“This time they finally arrived, and that gives us a massive boost,” he added.
Of the win, Bastoni said that “We stayed clear-headed and kept the right balance, I’m proud of the guys’ performance.”