Spalletti: "We struggled with their counter - attacks"

REGGIO EMILIA - It was a frustrating night for Luciano Spalletti’s during their first game of the 2018-19 Serie A season on Sunday, as they were beaten 1-0 thanks to a penalty from Berardi: “They played well and were impressive on the counter-attack,” said the Nerazzurri coach. “They waited, leaving us to dictate play and then chose the right moment to attack us. Unfortunately, it’s easy to lose the ball on a pitch like this and things are easier if you play on the counter-attack. Dalbert? The result of the match was not down to the performance of a full-back. He didn’t do too well in his reading of the game, and he could’ve done better when getting forward.

“The team played the match like they should’ve done. We conceded too many counter-attacks but we lost because of a penalty not because of the opposition’s dominance. The reaction was there after we’d conceded, but it was increasingly difficult because they played mostly on the counter-attack. Defeats influence enthusiasm and pressure but there are still 50 games left to play and we know how to deal with the situation. We shouldn’t have conceded because then we were too unbalanced.”