Vincenzo Italiano: "Our goal is to return to Europe, not to obsess over the Champions League"

Three things yesterday made me feel uneasy Vincenzo Italiano in the press room: the memory of the defeat against the still freshAtalanta, 'facilitated' by a couple of glaring errors of the defense, the prospect of having to face the end of the season without key players (or having them half-serviced) in some key roles, but above all the idea, extremely ungenerous, that if his Bologna he couldn't get on the train Champions, where Atalanta and Juve are currently travelling quite comfortably, some might turn up their noses and brand the result as a missed goal.

"Champions train? I'd like to hear about the train Europe, otherwise every time we stumble it seems like the end of the world – protests the coach –. I've already said it a million times: our objective is to return to Europe, and we'll see at the end of the season what Europe will be. But we mustn't be eager to achieve something different. Reaching the most prestigious goal would be a masterpiece, but I don't like feeling this constant obsession with losing points for the Champions League: these are not the things that should make us feel bad".

The fall of Bergamo yes, especially for the way. Premise: "Two and a half months of high level performances are not erased by a defeat". The regret remains for those two goals gifted to Gasperini in the first twenty minutes of the match: lessons to be put to good use this evening at From the Ara against the Serie A leaders who have just earned a pass to the Champions League semi-finals. "If we want to continue to travel at the supersonic speed of the leading group," Italiano emphasized, "we cannot make certain mistakes. In Bergamo we made the wrong approach and it's not the first time it's happened to us."

But after the slap on the wrist to the defense, the caresses to the group arrive. "Down by two goals, there was a reaction - says Italiano - and for a setback we cannot lose the confidence and enthusiasm that have accompanied us up to now".

It's a shame we lost instead Skorupski, Ferguson, Calabria e Casale, all four out, and have Castro, Dallinga e Odgaard held back by their respective ailments. "Odgaard is at ninety-five percent, Castro at fifty." Translated: between him and Dallinga, who has to deal with pubalgia, against one of the strongest defenses in Europe today there is no healthy 'nine'. "We have other solutions," the coach cuts short. A concept that is even more valid for Simone Inzaghi, which in one fell swoop lost Thuram and has a arnautovic half-service. "TheInter today they are one of the strongest teams in the world and have been playing by heart for years. We hope they wake up a little tired after the efforts against Bayern, but we know what awaits us: a team that is good at doing everything but above all capable of exposing the weaknesses of their opponents". The Italian coach knows this well, having beaten the Nerazzurri only once in 9 previous matches (in addition to 3 draws and 5 defeats). But history is made today: the past does not count.