Inter Milan & Italy Star Blames Post EURO 2024 Hangover For Performance Vs Genoa: ‘Most Of Us Returned To Training Late’ | OneFootball

Alessandro Bastoni feels that late returns to training for a lot of the Inter Milan squad played a role in the team’s draw with Genoa.

The Italian international spoke to InterTV, via FCInterNews, after the 2-2 Serie A opening day match.

Inter did not start the season off with three points as they’d have wanted to.

The Nerazzurri looked as though they were heading for a victory when Marcus Thuram scored their and his second goal in the 84th minute.

Inter had to come back from Genoa taking the lead in the first half.

This looked like it was going to be a big result to open up Inter’s Serie A title defense. They had not won away to Genoa since 2020.

However, the match proved to have a sting in the tail.

Inter defender Yann Bisseck was guilty of handling the ball in his own penalty area in stoppage time.

After a VAR check, referee Ermanno Feliciani awarded Genoa a penalty.

Inter keeper Yann Sommer saved the initial effort from Grifone midfielder Junior Messias. However, the Brazilian was able to turn in the followup to earn a point for his side.

Bastoni On Inter Draw Vs Genoa: “Most Of The Squad Returned To Training Late”

Inter did show more than a few signs of fatigue and a lack of sharpness at the Marassi.

That was particularly the case during the second half of the match as the pace of play really wore the team down.

This is perhaps not too surprising.

The Nerazzurri’s squad hardly had the ideal preseason in terms of preparing them for the campaign.

The majority of Inter’s squad were in action at either the Euros or the Copa America.

That means that the Nerazzurri players had extended vacations following their participation in international tournaments.

Inter defender Bastoni commented that “It was tough for us because of the fact that most of us returned to training late from our national teams.”

“We didn’t have a lot of time to work in training,” the 25-year-old continued.

“We know how the Marassi is. I’m still confident, we’re not going to overreact.”

“We’re just going to do everything we can to get off to as positive a start as possible.”