Inzaghi: "Disappointed but lots of positives to take"

MADRID – Inter were unable to make it another night to remember at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, 11 and a half years after lifting the Champions League trophy in the Spanish capital. The Nerazzurri were beaten 2-0 on the night but Simone Inzaghi saw the glass as half full as his team performed well and will nonetheless be in Monday's draw for the last 16.

“We're very disappointed, especially after playing so well in the first half,” the boss began. “We created lots of openings and our stats were good but we fell behind and went in at the break without having scored. Up until [Nicolo] Barella's red card, we held up very well, despite this being our sixth back-to-back game in very little time.

"There are plenty of positives to take away from this – not least the character we showed in the first half – but we wanted a different result. We have to learn from these things because we played well in both games against Real Madrid but lost them both. That tells us we still need to improve in several areas. 

“Now we'll turn our attentions back to Serie A because we have another tough game against Cagliari on Sunday.”

On Barella's sending off: "He made a serious mistake but he's a smart lad and he's already apologised to everyone – me, the staff and his team-mates – because we were still in the game at that point. He's an important player for us and I hope it doesn't happen again because he has enough international experience not to make such mistakes."

Asked about the ideal draw for Inter in the last 16, Inzaghi replied: “It's impossible to say. There are lots of formidable teams so it's much of a muchness really. The main thing is getting to February in the best condition possible.”