APPIANO GENTILE - The day after Inter's 1-0 win away to Treviso, Nerazzurri coach Roberto Mancini analysed the Serie A Week 20 match with Roberto Scarpini on Inter Channel's programme Bordo Campo:
It was an important win for Inter in Treviso and there were many plus points. Yesterday, for example, Kily Gonzalez was in the starting line-up and he hadn't played since Week 2 against Palermo. Has your faith in him been confirmed?
"It's true that Kily hadn't played for a long time, but since he has been back with the squad he has been in good physical shape. But he still doesn't have ninety minutes in him. He's an expert player though, and in a match like the one last night I thought that even if he wasn't at his best he could still be useful to the team. And he was."
Treviso fielded a 3-3-3-1. Did this formation create any problems for you?
"Each team plays as it thinks best. Their formation didn't create any real problems for us. There were other things that caused problems for us. Treviso are in very good physical form at the moment and they have some players that run a lot. The most difficult thing for us was the condition of the pitch and the fact that we couldn't play the ball on the ground. It was very cold and there was frost on the pitch and it was icing over. For a football match, it wasn't a very playable pitch. This is why we were sometimes forced to play long balls forward to the strikers."
Treviso pressed very hard and the only time they let you past was when Nicolas Burdisso crossed for Julio Cruz to give us the lead. Was playing quickly fundamental?
"If you play the ball quickly on a pitch like that you can cut out the opponents that press you. The pitch was a bit faster at the start when we did well to play the ball quickly on the wings and caused the most problems for Treviso. Perhaps we could have taken better advantage of a few of those situations."
Inter continued to run the match after taking the lead. Are you pleased with this attitude?
"We always try to do this and I'm very satisfied with this attitude. Sometimes, however, your opponents manage to create a goal out of nothing, for example the free kick Julio Cesar didn't hold. Julio also slipped and the ball stayed there, and this can happen in certain weather conditions. If our defenders hadn't been quick enough things would probably have gone worse. So it's always better to score an extra goal to kill off matches. It's true that apart from set pieces and long balls we hardly conceded anything yesterday, but as I said, goals can come from out of the blue."
Is it a comforting sign for the team that the only dangers came from dead-ball situations?
"That's right. The most important thing about yesterday was to get three points, and we also had to win them with the grit and determination of wanting to win at all costs."
After the match Juan Sebastian Veron said that these 1-0 wins are worth as much as a big win. What do you think?
"I had watched Treviso and I saw that they were in excellent form. I knew we would be playing at a difficult ground that could have created a few difficulties for us, both for the structure of the stadium and the condition of the pitch. Winning was fundamental and I didn't think it would be an easy match. We needed to be as focused as you are for a cup final."
There were a few protests about the Cordoba-Borriello incident. What did you think about it?
"From the pitch you could understand everything instantly. You could understand that he had blown for a foul on Borriello before Cordoba held him back."
Some people have said that Inter are helped by referees...
"I really don't think so. And even if it was like this, it would have been the first time. In any case, I absolutely do not think so."
You made practically no changes yesterday. Materazzi came on in added time. Why?
"I wanted to put Materazzi on earlier because Treviso were playing these very dangerous long balls for Borriello. Then I saw that we were conceding very little and I didn't want to break the team's balance. I might have put on a striker to bring a bit of freshness to the attack, but I didn't have any. It was a bit difficult to make changes and find an ideal solution. Taking off a striker and putting on a midfielder would have seen Treviso push forward more."
Juventus drew with Chievo, Fiorentina lost and Milan won. What's your opinion of these results?
"Anything can happen at any time and there's no doubt about that. There are still many matches to play. We have to continue like this and try to get more points than we did in the first half of the season."
At the Meazza on Saturday you face Palermo, who won in the first half of the season. They're back in form.
"But every team in the Italian championship is organised, and those in form always make it tough for you. We face a team that played a great match yesterday. It will be a tough match, but they will all be hard from now on. We need a great performance. They caused problems for us in the first half of the season, and this is another reason why we want to do well."
