Ahead of Internazionale's UEFA Champions League Group Stage Matchday 3 clash against Shakhtar Donetsk at home, defender Bastoni attended a press conference to answer media questions. In the first part of the conference, Bastoni addressed the team's recent struggles with conceding early goals, the players' mental state, and deficiencies in their defensive system.
Reporter: As an experienced veteran who has been in this dressing room for many years, I want to ask you—even though it's still early in the group stage, does this match carry different significance? Does it weigh more heavily than potential later matches? After all, you need to start picking up points now to secure qualification or reach the playoffs. How important is tomorrow's match?
Bastoni: Yes, as you said, we absolutely must get the desired result tomorrow. Otherwise, it will become quite difficult to squeeze into the top eight. The only thing I want to add, and this is my personal opinion, is that we must be more realistic. The finals we reached and the journeys we made in the past are now history. This doesn't mean we are no longer a strong team, but the schedule and our recent performances remind us that we must keep our feet firmly on the ground.
As some of my teammates and the head coach said last week, the Champions League is a dream, just as it was when we reached the final twice before—we never said it was a must-achieve goal. Of course, if we have the opportunity, we will definitely go all out for it. But I hope everyone can temper their expectations a little, because that is the current reality. Starting tomorrow, we must provide a strong response.
Reporter: You've played under Antonio Conte, Simone Inzaghi, and Cristian Chivu at Internazionale, winning trophies, and you've also played in different tactical systems for the national team. Regarding your recent issue of often conceding early in games, can you talk about ways to improve this? How can you get into the game better? After all, conceding too early can put you in a very passive position for the entire match.
Bastoni: I don't think it has much to do with the formation, the coach, or external factors. Ultimately, it depends on the players on the field. I think it's almost entirely on the psychological level. Of course, the psychological level covers a very broad range of things; it can be said to include everything, or it can be very abstract—such as lack of concentration, lack of desire to win, or poor form on the day due to external factors.
Therefore, I believe each of us needs to maintain sufficient self-reflection and accountability, taking responsibility at a personal level. If you carefully analyze those early-game situations where we conceded, they often stem from individual mistakes, and as I just said, these mistakes are mainly due to psychological factors. If we can improve in this area, it will be a big step forward.
Reporter: You just mentioned psychological issues. But if the team falls behind six times, is that really just a mentality problem, or like last season, do you need to re-find a balance between offense and defense? Last season, you also had troubles at the start; perhaps the defensive line was too high, and then it was appropriately dropped back. Is this the result of multiple intertwined factors, or simply a mentality problem or individual error?
Bastoni: When this happens frequently, it is certainly the result of multiple factors working together. But after reviewing all these matches with the coach, we found that the number of times we conceded with the defensive line in position or from opponents hitting us on the counter-attack is actually extremely small. Last season, however, counter-attack goals were frequent, as we might have had ten players pushing forward, leaving huge spaces behind.
Many goals conceded this season are purely due to individual errors. So, as I said before, this is mainly a mentality issue. Although people often use "mentality" as a general term, it indeed covers many things, such as external factors and players' current energy levels. Therefore, as long as we can solve this, I don't think it's a technical or tactical problem; the core reason is still psychological.
Reporter: I'd like to continue on the same topic. You just mentioned individual errors, not flaws in the overall defensive system—simply put, a marking problem. Is this not a tactical issue, but rather because you won Serie A last season and your coordination has become muscle memory, leading to complacency or even underestimation of opponents? How do you explain this to yourself and the team?
Bastoni: I believe complacency is non-existent. I have never seen the team take the field with a frivolous, disorganized, or wrong attitude; I can completely rule that out. It might be more that we lack awareness of danger, always thinking it's difficult for opponents to break through our defense. But in reality, we give opponents too many easy chances. Opponents rarely score because they executed some incredibly intricate combination or were clearly superior to us; it's often because we gifted them goals or made elementary mistakes.
So, as I said before, reducing these errors is paramount, although it can be very complex. At the tactical level, you can clearly train and adjust, but psychological adjustments are much more complicated. Everyone has their own thoughts, ways of focusing, and handling habits. But as long as we can curb these types of errors, I think the situation will improve significantly.
Reporter: In Paris, if you recall, I once asked you how you got through that most difficult low point, those relatively dark months in 2026. After scoring two goals for the national team, do you feel that the public's perception and attitude towards you have changed? That is, besides your constant emphasis on maintaining a calm and normal mindset, has the outside world's view of you truly shifted? From the public's reaction, do you feel the fans' affection, trust, and support again?
Bastoni: To be honest, even before all that happened, I never heard applause when visiting other stadiums, so I don't think this atmosphere among the fans has changed. This is part of competitive sports, and I fully accept it. I don't need to prove anything to anyone, but in every match, I have a responsibility to show my worth, and I feel that responsibility. The club management has always stood by me, and the head coach has always given me support.
So, what you call a "low point," I personally didn't find it that desperate, because my threshold for understanding life's low points might be higher. After all, there were no life-and-death situations, and everyone around me is healthy, so what you see as a dark period wasn't much for me. Perhaps it was just a fluctuation in athletic form, but thanks to the support of those around me, I successfully got through it and continued to move forward. As everyone knows, time eventually heals and resolves everything.
AF's PC site is now live! Browse full news, comments, match details and stats on your computer. Visit: www.allfootballapp.com