Lazaro: “We won’t stop believing”

After the narrow 3-2 defeat against Inter Milan in the UEFA Champions League group stage, Valentino Lazaro spoke about the game, Inter’s quality and Plea’s disallowed goal.

…how the game went: We needed a little time to get into the game and we were too passive in the early stages. But we fought our way into the game well and the match was even on the whole. Both sides had good opportunities to score and it was an exciting game. It was too easy for them to go 2-1 and then 3-1 up. It’s a shame that we lost, but we can’t be accused of playing badly or not fighting for it.

…Inter’s quality: Inter Milan are a world-class club. Even when some say that they’re out of form, you could see what great quality they have in certain situations. We actually managed to keep Romelu Lukaku, their striker, under real control. But then with the few opportunities he had, he was involved in all three goals. Nonetheless, we combatted them well and it’s a shame that it wasn’t enough in the end.

…Romelu Lukaku: Romelu is a great guy who always gives 110% for his side. He proved that with his goals against us. And he hasn’t just been doing that for one or two years, it’s been the case for his whole career. He’s scored an unbelievable amount of goals and that’s why he’s worth so much to his side. You can’t keep a striker like that quiet for the full 90 minutes. 

…Alassane Plea’s disallowed goal: The offside for his disallowed goal was a matter of centimetres. Breel Embolo managed to get out of the way of the ball, and, from my view, he wasn’t in the goalkeeper’s direct line of sight and he couldn’t have reacted. It’s just a shame that we didn’t get the equaliser because of a few centimetres.  

…the situation heading into the final game: We can be proud of our performances so far in the group stage. Just like the last game, we have the opportunity to seal a place in the round of 16. We won’t stop believing and we’ll give everything at Real Madrid to achieve our goal.