Inter fullback Matteo Darmian struck the winner against Atalanta in the Coppa Italia, sliding home an inch-perfect low finish with his left foot. The 1-0 win sealed the Nerazzurri’s place in the semi-finals of the cup tournament, where they will face either Juventus or Lazio.
The Italian wingback spoke to DAZN (via FCInterNews) after the match and had only victory in his mind, as the Nerazzurri prepare to take revenge against Milan following a narrow league loss last season in the return fixture, which effectively sidelined them out of the Scudetto race.
A second-half brace by Olivier Giroud sealed a 2-1 win for the Rossoneri back then – proving pivotal in their run for the Scudetto title.
“That match was a bit peculiar. We had the lead but we weren’t able to manage it by making a comeback. Now there’s a great desire for revenge but not just for that game: I’m also thinking about the first leg derby this season, it’s certainly something that has remained with us and we want to redeem.”
He then pointed out the excitement in the air before the derby kicks off.
“They are always peculiar, always separate games. You breathe a different air compared to the other matches, the atmosphere in the city is something unique”.
Darmian came up through the ranks of Milan, before moving to Inter recently.
“When I had one of the first tryouts at Milan, they gave us a sort of questionnaire where they asked us who our favorite player was. I answered Clarence Seedorf, who was playing for Inter at the time. I started as a midfielder, then moved back in position. Growing up in Milan I had monsters as references, like Alessandro Nesta.”
The 33-year-old spent eight years in Milan, before securing a loan move to Padova and then switching permanently to Palermo. However, he gained prominence only after his move to Torino in 2011.
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