Inter boss Simone Inzaghi admitted that Nicolo Barella made a serious mistake in getting sent off against Real Madrid on Tuesday night.
Inter were 1-0 down after Toni Kroos’ first-half strike when Barella lost his cool following a challenge from Eder Militao that left him in the advertising hoarding.
The Sardinian threw a punch at the legs of the Real Madrid defender and the referee decided to send him off. This was just four minutes after Inzaghi had made a bold triple substitution that completely changed the look of the midfield.
“He made a serious mistake but the boy is intelligent, he understood the mistake but at the end of the match he already apologised to me, to the staff but above all to his teammates,” Inzaghi told reporters after the match.
“He was nervous, he did something he shouldn’t have done, he changed the game that was still open. I had made the changes and to be left with one less here in Madrid, everything got complicated.
“He didn’t have to do it, however, he will learn from the experience and above all we hope that it will no longer happen to him and to any of his other teammates.”
Inter lost the match 2-0 after Marco Asensio doubled Los Blancos’ lead.
