Icardi hails "best performance of the season"

MILAN – Mauro Icardi described Inter’s 7-1 demolition of Atalanta at San Siro on Sunday as the team’s "best performance of the season" as he spoke to Mediaset Premium after the game.

"To play so well and produce the level of performance we did against a team like Atalanta is amazing," added the captain, who scored a hat-trick in the win.

"We stopped pushing for a moment at the end of the first half and they scored straight away. That shows that we still need to work on staying focused until the final whistle because if you take your eye off the ball, teams will score," said Icardi.

The Nerazzurri striker also insisted that the team is still aiming to qualify for the Champions League this season.

"Our goal is to keep pushing for third place right until the end – we’ll see where we are when the season is over," he said. "We’ve put the Roma match behind us and we’ve recovered well. We’re becoming more consistent."

Icardi went on to hail the impact of Stefano Pioli on the dressing room.

"This win is no accident," he said. "It’s the product of all the hard work we do with the boss. We work on every aspect during the week. When the coach came in there was a massive change in our mentality and in the way we work and that definitely brings success eventually. Of course, there are always going to be blips and we’ve had a couple, but I think we’re on the right track."