Italy & Inter Milan Superstar Declares: ‘Clinching Serie A Title Against AC Milan Was A Bonus For Our Fans’ | OneFootball

Inter Milan midfielder Nicolo Barella is glad to have given the Nerazzurri fans an opportunity to celebrate clinching the Serie A title in the derby against AC Milan.

The 27-year-old spoke to Football Emotion Italia, via FCInterNews. He looked back in the derby match in which the Nerazzurri sealed their twentieth league title in their history.

Last season, Inter won the Serie A title, with city rivals AC Milan the closest team to them in the table.

However, the Rossoneri were not very close.

Inter had already opened up a wide gap at the top of the table by the time April rolled around.

This meant that the Nerazzurri had the opportunity to clinch the league title with several matches to spare.

And that gave Inter a unique opportunity. They went into April’s derby match against Milan with the chance to clinch the title in the derby, the first time that either team had done so in history.

And Inter managed to do exactly that.

Inter took a 2-0 lead, before Milan pulled one back. This made for a nervy finish.

And then tensions boiled over. Inter wingback Denzel Dumfries received a red card. Meanwhile, both of Milan fullbacks Theo Hernandez and Davide Calabria also saw red.

But when the referee blew the final whistle, Inter were able to celebrate their title triumph, and do so at the San Siro in what was nominally a Milan home match.

Nicolo Barella: ‘Winning Serie A Title In Derby Vs AC Milan A Bonus For Inter Fans’

“It was brilliant,” Nicolo Barella said of clinching the title in the derby.

“We already knew that we were certain to win the Scudetto. But doing so in the derby was a bonus for our fans.”

“We tried to do it, and we managed to bring home something extraordinary.”

“Then after the final whistle,” Barella looked back. “I celebrated, but I also shook hands with the Milan players. Because I had also experienced the feeling of losing out on the Scudetto.”

“Just as I’d also lost out on a Champions League final and a Europa League final,” the Inter midfielder recalled.

Barella said that “I felt like making that gesture.”

“Then I went back to celebrating with my teammates.

Meanwhile, Barella also looked back on his move to Inter in the summer of 2019.

“I’m not going to say I expected it,” the Italian international said of the Nerazzurri moving to sign him.

“But when I was still at Cagliari and I received a call-up to the national team, I realized that my career was really starting to take off, and it was logical to break away from my roots.”

“There were a lot of offers,” Barella said of that summer.

“But I immediately embraced the Inter project. And immediately accepted the challenge.”

“At first, it was strange,” Barella said of the start of his time at Inter.

“But at Inter, they made me feel important right away. They welcomed me as if I were a part of the family, it was all very simple.”