كتب : Omar Shoeb
“I’m not used to taking such steps. Perhaps that is a blow to those who were hoping that I would be leaving,” Mancini was quoted as saying by Football Italia on Thursday.
“I still have a squad to train and I will do that until the very end in the best possible way that I can. If the club decide to make a change at the end of the season then that is another matter. But I am not someone who runs away, I’ve never done that,” he added.
Inter suffered a 1-0 loss to less-experienced Villareal on Tuesday and exited the UEFA Champions from the quarter-finals.
Nevertheless, Mancini expressed his apology to the fans for the defeat and said that the enormous pressure on the players played an important part in their defeat.
“I want to say sorry to the club and the fans for Tuesday’s game. I think it is acceptable to lose a game and be eliminated from the Champions League, but not in that manner – by simply not playing at all in the second half.
“We owe the fans an apology for the suffering which we have caused them, the same amount of suffering which we have experienced. Unfortunately, we didn’t honour the Inter shirt out there. I’ve never seen any player step on to the field of play with the intention of playing badly,” Mancini said.
“That was the first time since I have been at Inter that we have played so badly in a tie of that importance. Perhaps the importance of the game weighed us down. There is a lot of pressure out there and that can stop you from playing well,” he added.
Mancini also insisted that they had to overcome their defeat and exit and focus on their local matches, if they were to win any titles this season.
“We have to be logical and realise that the season is not over just yet. There are six League games left and a Coppa Italia to play for. We are Inter, we have to do well until the very end.”