Darmian: "It was amazing to debut here, we deserved to win"

MILAN – Matteo Darmian had a debut to remember against Borussia Mönchengladbach, a match in which he started and where a debut goal was the only thing missing from a brilliant performance. The former Manchester United and Parma winger played his first match in the Champions League since November 2017, when he was with the Red Devils. This evening, he contributed in a determined way to almost all of the Nerazzurri’s offensive moves. He had four shots, three of which posed danger to the Borussia goal, as well as running many kilometres up and down the wing. "Everyone did their bit performance-wise, but unfortunately we found ourselves a goal down. However, we recovered well," he told Inter TV.

"There's a feeling of regret because we wanted come away with a victory, but we need to continue to work like we have been. I was slightly emotional heading into the match, as I was about to debut at San Siro in the Champions League. However, after the whistle at the beginning of the game, all my emotions then disappeared and I tried to give my best for the team. We knew from the beginning that the group would be tight, and we wanted to start well because we know that every point matters. We’ll move on from this game and immediately think about the next one so that we’re prepared. The league is very important.

"We find ourselves commenting on a draw where the result is not entirely representative of what we saw on the field. Given how badly the match had gone wrong, we recovered well, and we showed the right determination from the first minute. We tried our best but it ended in a draw".

Darmian also told Sky Sport about the moment he found out he was going to start the game: "I heard about it this afternoon, Hakimi is very important for us but I tried to give my best contribution to the team."

He concluded with a comment about Lukaku: "I used to play with him in Manchester. He is a good guy, and everyone sees his quality when he's out on the pitch. For our style of play, it is very important that the wingers push forward a lot, something that both Ivan and I tried to do. Regardless of individual performances, I thought we did well on a team level."