We lacked the right concentration: Branca

(GSM) – Inter’s technical director Marco Branca believes his team will bounce back with extra motivation against Blues after the 3-1 defeat to Catania.

Diego Milito put Jose Mourinho’s team, who play Chelsea in the Champions League on Tuesday, in front in the 54th minute but the home side scored three goals in the final 16 minutes to secure an unlikely victory.

Inter’s lead at the top of the table could be cut to one point if Milan beat Chievo on Sunday night while Catania have moved eight points clear of the bottom three.

Inter have to recover quickly as Jose Mourinho prepares to go back to Chelsea for Tuesday’s second leg of their Champions League tie and Branca is confident they will do.

“We controlled the match well until we took the lead, even if we weren’t playing very well,” Branca explained.

Technical director continued, “But then, unfortunately, we were careless and then there was a clear hand ball and a penalty. It’s obviously a period in which we are finding it hard to find the right concentration.”

He also pointed his team’s mistakes against Catania, “We have never conceded a goal like the one for their equaliser with only one opponent in our penalty area. We made a mistake; we probably thought the match was going our way. The boss put on an extra striker at the start of the second half to give more liveliness to our manoeuvre and we had some chances but we didn’t manage to capitalise. Catania deserved to win. We have to learn from what happened and move on. We lacked the usual attention and concentration.”

Branca reiterated that the Nerazzurri were completely focused on Catania, not on next Tuesday’s Champions League game at Stamford Bridge, “We were thinking about this game, not about Chelsea. We knew Catania were in excellent form and we were concentrated on this game, but evidently we didn’t show it. Tonight’s defeat shouldn’t worry us. We have to turn it into an extra motivation ahead of the Chelsea game. It’s a one-off, a last sixteen return leg, something completely different with a different intensity and a different opponent.”

Commenting on the atmosphere inside the Inter dressing room, Branca explained, “There’s no friction, there are no problems in the dressing room. Will Balotelli return for Chelsea? I don’t know. Tomorrow we will see with the doctor and the coach. The introduction of Muntari, It was a technical decision. There’s nothing else to add.”