De Paul: ‘Inter not superior to Atletico Madrid’ | OneFootball

Rodrigo De Paul insists he did not get the sense that Inter ‘are superior’ to Atletico Madrid and he trusts home advantage to make the difference for them too.

Marko Arnautovic missed a couple of sitters before he finally got the only goal of the Champions League Round of 16 tie, meeting the rebound from a save on Lautaro Martinez to score from a tight angle.

“It was a good game between two teams who really wanted to fight it out and it must’ve been good to watch,” De Paul told Sky Sport Italia.

It was not just Arnautovic, as Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram also had chances, so the scoreline could’ve been wider than 1-0.

“Inter had two or three more chances than we did, but these are two very similar teams. From what I could sense being on the field, I don’t think Inter were superior to us.

“At the end of the day, the goal is what counts and now we must turn it around at the Metropolitano.”

The second leg will be at the Wanda Metropolitano on March 13 and there is no more away goals rule, so if Atleti win by any one-goal margin, then the tie will go to extra time.

It was put to the former Udinese midfielder that Atletico Madrid lowered the intensity of their pressing game in the second half and this allowed Inter to create more scoring opportunities.

“You cannot always play at the same tempo throughout a match. We wanted to keep up the level of intensity after the break, but Inter were on home turf and their crowd pushed them on.

“It’s normal that they can slowly wear you down, they are the best team in Italy right now and it is natural that at San Siro they’ll feel stronger, just like we will at the Metropolitano.

“I don’t believe it was a drop in fitness levels, we too had two scoring opportunities, that means we are in good shape.”