Inter Milan midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu is not expecting it to be easy for the Nerazzurri to defend their Serie A title.
The Turkish international gave his thoughts in a press conference after yesterday’s 1-1 draw against Napoli, as reported by FCInterNews.
Inter had the chance to go top of the Serie A table yesterday. However, they passed it up.
The Nerazzurri had to settle for a draw with league leaders Napoli.
That result saw Inter remain one point behind the Partenopei in the table. And Napoli were able to stay at the top going into the international break.
But in the meantime, several other teams caught up at the top.
All of Atalanta, Fiorentina, and Lazio drew level with Inter in the table – and got to within a point of Napoli at the top.
Meanwhile, Juventus are just a point behind that pack.
Therefore, there is now a title race in Serie A where six teams seem to be one result away from going top of the table.
Calhanoglu: “Other teams Have Strengthened, But Inter Want To Defend Our Title”
Inter midfielder Calhanoglu said that “I respect all the teams, they’re all strong.”
“We try to be better than them. But there are other teams that we have to respect.”
“We’ll try to defend our title as Italian champions,” Calhanoglu added. “We’re still right there.”
The Turkish international said that “We want to win against teams like Napoli, Milan, Atalanta.”
“Unfortunately things have not always worked out that way,” he continued.
“This season is different from the last one because those teams have strengthened.”
Calhanoglu admitted that “We’re not the same as last season.”
“But we’re still right there. There are ups and downs, we can’t always be at top level.”
The Inter midfielder argued that “There are a lot of matches, we don’t look at the table.”
“While we want to have a chance to rest, there’s always another match.”
Calhanoglu said that “Mentally it’s not easy to be at top level in every match.”
