BRESSO - "We are certainly pleased to be leading the league at the halfway point in a group which, according to the experts, is the most balanced of the Primavera league." Andrea Stramaccioni opened with these comments to the microphones of Inter Channel after the 3-1 victory against Varese in the rescheduled Week 4 match. A difficult match against a tough opponent that knew how to make the Nerazzurri suffer. The coach continued: "We have to be honest in our analysis. Varese have some attacking players of excellent quality and ideal characteristics to cause problems for Inter's back line. They have great speed and quickness. Playing with a high defensive line, we gave them the pitch. But the fact remains that the two best scoring chances for Varese, in the first half, came from our mistakes in possession. On a heavy pitch it wasn't possible to exchange passes and keep the ball on the ground. My lads understood that and therefore we played an excellent second half. The last chance for our opponents came from the feet of Ferreira, a great player."
Exactly one week away from the quarterfinals of the NextGen Series, Stramaccioni was asked if mentally his lads can let up on the attention devoted to Atalanta – their next opponents in the league – and begin to think of the 'youth Champions League', to which the coach stated categorically: "Absolutely not. We are Inter. We train and work knowing that we have commitments on several fronts. The NextGen Series is a competition that stimulated us, allowed us to play against excellent European teams and allowed us to grow a lot. Our first objective remains the league and the boys know that. Atalanta will be a difficult game and now Bergamo takes priority."
