Former Inter striker Nicola Ventola has shared his belief that there was a clear gap in quality between Inter and Real Madrid last night when the visitors were in possession of the ball.
“I saw Inter in difficulty in the first 30 minutes in terms of ideas and the speed of the game. Real Madrid remained compact and high up the pitch, but when they had the ball there was a lot of difference in quality,” he began his analysis of the match in an interview with Inter’s official club broadcaster Inter TV, following the match.
He then went on to share his belief that both the penalty Inter conceded and Arturo Vidal’s sending off were both things that could have been avoided.
“They played football, Inter were chasing. It is the first time that Inter have been hit like this in the first 30 minutes. The penalty that Barella gave away could have been avoided as could Vidal’s sending off. After Vidal’s dismissal it was understood that there was no more game, but I was worried about the first 30 minutes.”
Ventola, who scored 21 goals in 64 games for Inter, then went on to discuss the fact that Inter seemed to perform better when they went down to 10 men after Vidal’s sending off in the 33rd minute of the game at San Siro.
“The coach will certainly analyse this match and behave accordingly. We paradoxically played better with 10 men. Inter have always had excellent performances, I’m very positive.”
Ventola then went on to share his thoughts on the performance of Achraf Hakimi, who has had a difficult few weeks on the pitch, as well as Vidal’s sending off.
“It was a timid performance from Hakimi. Now he is a bit shy, we know what he can and we need to put less pressure on him. Vidal was wrong but the referees know and study the players. They know that player reacts like that. The player made a mistake, but in my opinion the sending off was excessive.”
