Mancini: "Fenerbahce Deserved to Win"

Mancini: "Fenerbahce Deserved to Win"
By Nathan L. Redd

Following Fenerbahce's 1-0 win on Wednesday, Inter Milan boss Roberto Mancini said his team played inferior to the Turks and deserved their loss.

Mancini told Sporting Life "We didn't play a good game. I cannot deny it, Fenerbahce were better than us and they deserved the win. Perhaps to be given a smack once in a while is good for us. But this defeat should mark a starting point for us because if we play as we know how to we shouldn't have any problems in qualifying."

Despite the loss, Inter Milan finds themselves in a familiar hole. They opened their 2006 UEFA Champions League campaign with a loss as well, but still managed to advance to the next stage. Fenerbahce is looking to move to the knockout phase for the first time. Despite the win, they know it won't be easy and a full-strength Inter squad in Milan will provide a much tougher task.

Mancini told Goal.com "The first half was balanced, while in the second half they played better because they had more space for the counterattacks and, overall, they deserved the victory." When asked about his team's short-handed side, Mancini said "Those who played are as good as those who were missing, so we can't use that as an excuse. As I've said, they played better throughout the 90 minutes and deserved to win."

"We certainly did not play a very good match and we could've done better," said Mancini. "We've lost one game and now we have to try to win our next home game to avoid getting into a difficult situation as we did last season."