Udinese head coach Kosta Runjaic spoke to DAZN and later in a press conference following his team’s 3-2 loss to Inter Milan. Despite the defeat, Runjaic found positives in his team’s performance against the reigning Italian champions.
Runjaic began by acknowledging the entertaining nature of the match: “It was an enjoyable game for the fans. We know Inter’s quality, they scored easy goals, we conceded simple chances. We tried to play until the end, maybe with a miracle or a bit of luck we could have equalized. There are two sides to the coin: we played openly but we lost.”
The coach praised Inter’s possession-based style while highlighting his team’s efforts: “They’re one of the teams with the most minutes in possession, we had to run a lot, and we did it well. The second goal shouldn’t have happened at all, we conceded just before half-time. I liked the team’s spirit, but in the end, Inter deserved the victory.”
Regarding Udinese’s performance and future prospects, Runjaic remained optimistic: “We need to have faith in the process, we played well in spells. The statistics compared to last year are improving, we need to stay calm. Some players still need to adapt, I’m relaxed and convinced we can do well.”
In his press conference, Runjaic elaborated on the team’s reaction and learning opportunities: “We lost, that’s the result, that’s one side of the coin. We didn’t get the three points, we knew the caliber of the team we were facing and that against these teams, mistakes are punished. You can’t concede a goal in the first minute of play. Inter is an extraordinary team, but we conceded avoidable goals. We must learn from this situation, it leaves a bit of a bitter taste.”
The coach also commented on Lorenzo Lucca’s performance: “These are things I talk about with Lucca. He scored, and that’s what he needs to do – score, hold the ball, impose himself against central defenders. He didn’t start because someone else played. He needs to observe his own performances to improve.”
Runjaic concluded by discussing the team’s errors and the process of improvement: “If you concede a goal in the first 50 seconds against Inter, you find yourself in a shocking situation, but despite this, we worked very well. We knew they could play in transition, they have great quality, and we played against one of the top five teams in Europe. This defeat will give us important lessons, we’ll try not to make these mistakes again. I prefer to lose like this compared to the Roma game where we were quite passive. I’m happy with our performance, and we’ll use the next international break to improve further.”
