Inter defender Alessndro Bastoni feels that as long as the Nerazzurri stick together and show their teamwork, then they can be tough for anyone to play against.
Speaking to InterTV after the Nerazzurri’s 1-0 win over Juventus in the Coppa Italia, via FCInterNews, the 23-year-old hailed he and his teammates for putting in a solid and well-organized performance to reach the final of the competition, with spirit and intensity.
Inter will have had illusions that they were in for an easy match against a Juventus side who had beaten them twice in the league already this season, whilst it took a very late Romelu Lukaku penalty to come out of the first leg in the Coppa Italia on parity.
However, the Nerazzurri had the look of a team who knew just what they were up against, and responded with their best performance against the Bianconeri to date this season.
The first-half goal from wingback Federico Dimarco gave the Nerazzurri the advantage on the night and in the tie, but it still took a monumental effort to get the victory over the line.
In the end, a clean sheet was a big credit to the defense and to the entire team as a whole, as they worked as a unit to deny the Bianconeri space and good goalscoring opportunities.
Now, with massive matches to come across three different competitions before the season is over, the Nerazzurri will be taking confidence that even in the biggest matches, they can stand up and be counted.
“We prepared well for it,” Bastoni said of this evening’s match.
“We studied Juve and it went well, it’s always tough playing against them.”
“We’ve had some bad moments in which we’ve lacked balanced, but when we play as a team it’s tough for anyone to play against us,” he added.
“Now our focus is on Sunday when we face Lazio, it’s a vital match to make some ground up, and then we’ll think about our other commitments.”