UCL, De Vrij: "Hugely important game. We are working well"

Inter are preparing to play at San Siro in the second league-phase clash in the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 with the game on Tuesay 1 October at 21:00 CEST against Crvena zvezda. On the eve of the game, Stefan de Vrij spoke in a press conference:

You’re a veteran of this side and a strength of the defence. Inter is struggling: what kind of issues are there? "We were talking about it before, we are aware that we all have to improve, not just the defenders as everyone is responsible, we are also looking over what we are doing to avoid making mistakes”

What did you take away from the win in Udine? Has the level increased in training? "We suffered a bad defeat in the derby and knew it was important to win again straight away at a ground like Udinese where they are doing well. There were some positives and some things to improve on, we were a team”. 

How do you explain the highs and lows of these matches? "I think they were different games entirely, Monza was different to Man City. The Brianzoli put everything into it and we were slow, then they scored. We played a different game against City, they’re used to keeping the ball and we put in a good performance”.

Does the start of this season remind anyone of a couple of seasons ago when Inter would make mistakes up front and struggle to score. What do you think? "We need to leave the past behind us. This is a new season where we could have started better but it’s a long campaign and different from the others. We can only improve through work”.

This year, could there be an issue with insisting on your style of play and not sitting deep? "I think that we need to push with those teams that all sit back and defend well, in those situations we need to be more fluid and get into good positions. We need to demonstrate that we’re improving”.

How is the side working to improve the defence? "Last year, we conceded little thanks to the entire squad defending well together. So, all of our work has to be more intense”.

Has the change to the Champions League format sunk in yet? "It’s something new and we are aware that every game is very important and could be decisive for going through to the next phase, we’re taking things a game at a time”.