Fabregas: ‘So proud of Como courage against Inter’ in 4-3 thriller
Cesc Fabregas insists Como gave Inter a real scare in tonight’s 4-3 thriller and was ‘so proud’ of their ‘courage to compete against anyone we are up against,’ but he is not checking the table.
It was the perfect start for Fabregas at the Stadio Sinigaglia, as his team was 2-0 up against Serie A leaders Inter with goals from Alex Valle and Nico Paz.
However, the Nerazzurri proved themselves absolutely clinical, converting practically all their chances to win 4-3 in the second half with a brace each from Marcus Thuram and Denzel Dumfries.
Lucas Da Cunha’s late penalty was not enough to turn it around, even if Alberto Moreno hit the crossbar in stoppages.
Fabregas proud of Como fight
“I don’t know what position we are in the table, because I haven’t checked since the start of the season and I’m not going to now,” Fabregas told DAZN Italia.
“My team once again proved it is courageous, eager, and even in defeat showed character. It’s true we made mistakes, but this is a young team and we were up against an opponent that will penalise you for every error.
“I think talking about tactics today is not appetising to me, because we did our talking on the pitch. I like to look at statistics, and not many sides manage 20 shots on goal against Inter.
“If you had told me two years ago that we’d be challenging Inter like this, I’d have assumed we had organised a friendly match, but we are fighting them on an even playing field.”
It was not tactics, but emotional momentum that changed the game when Thuram pulled one back in first half stoppages, giving Inter some hope.
“That’s what I mean, you can talk about tactics all you want, but ultimately the mentality makes the difference,” agreed Fabregas.
“It was a lack of communication between Valle and Perrone, they found a way through, it was practically half-time. My message at half-time was that regardless of the result, we needed to keep playing like this.
“The 2-2 was not a dangerous situation and we didn’t deal with it well, but after that Inter are so strong. We created some good counter-attacks, but they are so incredible on set plays, not just against us. As I said, being competitive against Inter today was an important step in our growth process.”
This was a surprisingly attack-minded line-up from Fabregas and Como, who in the first half had Sergi Roberto drawing Piotr Zielinski out of position to attack Alessandro Bastoni.
“We have another game to play against Inter in 10 days, we prepare matches in different ways, so I don’t want to explain our ideas too much right now,” noted Fabregas when pushed on how he had tried to hurt Inter.
“I am so proud of my players, I was here the first day when we started work two and a half years ago, and I see where we are now. I see the desire to improve and the courage to compete against anyone we are up against.”
Fabregas had held Inter to a 0-0 draw here in the first leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final last month, with the decider scheduled at San Siro on April 21.
However, they lost 4-0 in Serie A back in December, so this was a significant improvement.
“Mistakes are part of the game, they can often help you grow faster, because they force you to take a good look and not just keep coasting along. That is true of life as well as of football,” explained Fabregas.
“The team gave everything, the result is a pity. I too want to learn from my mistakes, as against Milan I talked about the focus being on results rather than performance, so I won’t be saying that again.
“I just say that it was a good performance and we don’t stop now, there are six rounds to play plus the Coppa Italia, and we’ll see where we end up.”
This result knocks Como down to fifth place, two points behind Juventus, but it remains extraordinarily tight for those Champions League spots.
Only six points now separate Milan in third from Roma in sixth, with six rounds left to play and several head-to-head clashes.
