Mancini: ‘Defeat will still give Italy strength’
Roberto Mancini said Leonardo Bonucci should’ve avoided both his yellow cards in the Nations League semi-final defeat to Spain, but ‘despite the result, this performance gave us strength.’
The unbeaten run finally came to an end after a world record 37 matches, as Spain emerged 2-1 winners at San Siro with a Ferran Torres brace, aided by Leonardo Bonucci’s red card just before half-time.
Federico Chiesa went on a sprint from his own half to set up Lorenzo Pellegrini for a late consolation goal.
“Games are like this, sometimes incidents change them. The first half could easily have ended 1-1,” Mancini told RAI Sport.
“Clearly, Spain keep the ball well, but it’s disappointing to lose like this, down to 10. We made a mistake that we should not be making at this level.
“To be honest, I didn’t see the second card, but that’s not the point. Leo should not have got himself booked in either situation.
“Playing like this, scoring a goal and not conceding more when down to 10 men was a good performance.”
Italy improved in the second half once Mancini started to throw on elements like Pellegrini and Manuel Locatelli.
“We needed some fresh legs and that helped when down to 10 men. We could’ve used some younger players, but I think that despite the defeat, this performance gave us strength.”
There was also tension at San Siro, because Milan fans present jeered Gianluigi Donnarumma continually throughout the game, his first return to this stadium since leaving the Rossoneri as a free agent for PSG.
“That was disappointing, yes.”