Inter Milan forward Alexis Sanchez feels that the pressure and boos didn’t get to him when taking his penalty against Benfica.
The 34-year-old spoke to Italian broadcaster SportMediaset, via FCInterNews, after the 3-3 Champions League draw.
In the end, Sanchez had an important role to play against Benfica.
The Chilean was the man to take the penalty from which Inter scored their third goal and completed a memorable second half comeback.
The likes of Hakan Calhanoglu and Lautaro Martinez were not on the pitch when Marcus Thuram won the penalty, following a clumsy challenge by Benfica captain Nicolas Otamendi.
And the circumstances did not make it an easy penalty to take.
Of course, the stakes were high. Scoring from the spot would allow Inter to get back on level terms following a disastrous first half.
Then, there was the amount of time that Sanchez had to wait.
It took some time for the penalty to be confirmed during a lengthy VAR check.
Alexis Sanchez On Pressure Penalty Vs Benfica: The Boos Are Normal
During Sanchez’s long wait to finally take his spot kick, the crowd at the Estadio da Luz let the former Arsenal and Manchester United man know how they felt.
The boos rained down.
The Benfica faithful certainly wanted to do everything to put Inter’s penalty-taker off.
The nerves inside the stadium were high at the prospect of the Nerazzurri erasing the first-half deficit.
But in the end, Sanchez kept his composure.
The Chilean international slotted his effort home coolly.
As far as the pressure from the stands, Sanchez said that “I’m used to the boos.”
He said that We saw that Serie A is different from the Champions League, where concentration and experience count.”
“We wanted to change the game in the second half,” he added.
“All the attackers have different characteristics. And that’s what we need to win!”
