Handanovic: "We're only focusing on ourselves"

MILAN - A magnificent stop to ensure that the Nerazzurri came away with a point. This evening, Samir Handanovic saved his 24th penalty out of the 79 he’s now faced in Serie A, a save percentage of 30%. Ever since Handanvoic  arrived at Inter in 2012/13, only Andrea Consigli has faced (42) and saved (13) more penalties than Handanovic (ten from 40) in the Italian top flight. The Nerazzurri captain made his mark during the 1-1 draw against Atalanta and was interviewed following the match at San Siro: “Atalanta have strong players who have played together for a long time under the same coach, they’ve demonstrated this in both Italy and Europe. We did very well in the first half but then they really started to play in the second period. We need to only think about our work without looking at what other teams do.

“We’d prepared for the match very well but they managed to push us back after the restart. I think it’s a fair result because Atalanta are a difficult side to face. Following the break, we weren’t able to manage the ball as we had done in the first half: as the minutes went by, we were forced to defend in our own half. This game is proof that we still need to improve and grow, we’ve made a huge amount of progress in a short amount of time but need to improve in terms of managing games when they’ve slowed down. We’re ready to improve and from tomorrow we’ll already be thinking about Cagliari, a very important game.

As regards his penalty save: “A mix of many things is required: research, concentration, luck too. I’m happy that I saved it.”