Inter Milan wingback Matteo Darmian feels that a loss to AC Milan in the derby “won’t cancel out” what the Nerazzurri have built.
The 34-year-old spoke to Italian broadcaster SportMediaset, via FCInterNews, after yesterday evening’s shock defeat in the derby.
Inter experienced by far their biggest setback of the season yesterday evening.
The Nerazzurri had gone into the derby against city rivals AC Milan with the tag of big favourites.
Inter’s form this season so far had not been perfect. But there was a sense that they had maintained their momentum from last season more or less.
Milan, on the other hand, had endured a very tough start to the campaign.
The Rossoneri have had major growing pains in their first few weeks under coach Paulo Fonseca.
None of that was evident in the derby yesterday evening, however.
It was Inter who looked like the team without ideas and without energy.
Milan, by contrast, had a clear gameplan and the energy and physicality to execute it. They overran Inter in midfield and created by far more and better chances to score.
Matteo Darmian: AC Milan Defeat “Doesn’t Cancel Out” What Inter Have Built
The question now is where Inter go from here.
The Nerazzurri will have to recover right away. And the key will be to ensure that yesterday’s loss is nothing more than a blip.
After yesterday’s match, Darmian said that Inter “Started the match far from optimally.”
“Milan were able to play their game. And we were not able to show our style of play at our best.”
“All of that is why we’re talking about a loss,” Darmian said.
The former Manchester United and Torino defender admitted that “Losing is never pleasant.”
“Even moreso in a match like the derby, where we know how much it means to everyone.”
“What we have to do now is analyze what happened and try to improve on it,” Darmian reflected.
Of Milan’s performance yesterday, Darmian said that “We knew what to expect.”
“But we weren’t up to the standard we usually are.”
“Credit has to be given to Milan,” Darmian said. “Who played a better match than us.”
“It’s certainly up to us to work on what we did positively. But above all, on what we did that didn’t work.”
Darmian made clear that “One loss does not take away all the good things that we’ve done in the last few years.”
“We know that there is still room to improve,” the 34-year-old said. “And we’ll work towards that.”
Darmian was defiant, “We’re a united, mature group.”
“We’ll be able to take this loss in the right way,” the Nerazzurri defender said.