TURIN - "We put in an excellent performance against a great team. We matched our opponents and the big decisions went against us." Stefano Pioli couldn't hide his frustration as he spoke to the media after Inter lost 1-0 at Juventus to a goal from Cuadrado.
"Unfortunately we were made to pay for some naive defending. We got caught ball watching on the corner and our positioning wasn't right. In the first half, however, there were some decisions in the Juventus box which went against us. They were pretty clear too. Sadly, in tight matches like these, the big calls decide the result. We should have had two penalties for two fouls on Icardi: the elbow from Chiellini and Mandzukic's slide challenge. Both of Rizzoli's decisions went the same way and that's when the outcome of a match can turn.
"We played good football throughout, with great ability and conviction, as we needed to. It's a shame the first half ended like that. Juventus got men behind the ball after the break and, given they're a physical, organised side, it becomes tough to find space. We put in a good performance. We created openings but unfortunately luck wasn't on our side. We switched off and we also lost due to mistakes which were not of our own making. It was a good game. We're disappointed to have lost but now we want to bounce straight back.
"We're becoming a team and we just have to improve in terms of our attention to detail. This match shows that we're on the right track and we're progressing in order to be able to compete with everyone."
On team selection: "I picked the players who were the most likely to perform well, those best suited to the fixture and in the best form. The only difference to our recent games was Murillo's position - I played him slightly wider to counteract the physicality of Mandzukic.
On why he introduced Kondogbia as opposed to Banga: "I went for Geoffrey because we had the right balance in the team. Our positioning on the pitch allowed us to develop a specific style of play."
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