Inter midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu knows that the team have a mountain to climb if they’re to have any hope of catching league leaders Napoli in the Serie A title race, but still believed that it’s possible.
Speaking to Italian broadcaster DAZN after the team’s Serie A defeat at the hands of Empoli, via FCInterNews, the 28-year-old emphasized the importance of continuing to believe even though right now a comeback does not look to be likely.
If Inter’s task in trying to catch up to Napoli looked to be difficult before kickoff against Empoli, it looks much moreso after a dismal showing saw the Nerazzurri fall a further three points behind the Partenopei.
It is not unthinkable that such a gap could be made up over the second half of the season, but it is certainly anything but likely.
As far as Calhanoglu is concerned, there is little use in denying the size of the deficit, but the Turk is still refusing to give up hope entirely.
He noted that “Our attitude was the same as in the Supercoppa, but today we came up against a strong team that play good football, and it was difficult to come up against them.”
He continued that “In the end we went down to a red card, which made it even more difficult for us to try and win.”
“Our attitude will always be the same,” he noted.
“I’m sorry to the fans who gave us a big boost, but we didn’t give anything in return.”
Of the red card to defender Milan Skriniar, Calhanoglu said that “We always respect the referees, but in this situation you can go and see the VAR to look at the details.”
“We accepted it and there’s no arguing with it,” he continued.
“We lost and now we’re thirteen points away from Napoli, it’s a lot but we still believe in it.”
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