Bright start pays off for Mancini

Roberto Mancini, Inter coach
We should have closed the game out at 2-0, we had several opportunities but didn't use them in the best way. We played well until our forwards ran out of energy but they were just back from injury and became a bit tired in second half. We made a big mistake when Spartak scored as their striker [Roman Pavlyuchenko] was alone in our box for a long time and nobody tried to mark him. However, I'm satisfied overall. It was difficult after two defeats in our first two games but we came out with the right approach tonight, trying to attack from the start. My only regret is that we conceded a goal and missed chances to score more ourselves - I hope we've saved them for the game in Moscow.

Vladimir Fedotov, Spartak coach
I told my players beforehand to be very careful in the first few minutes because Inter would be aggressive and dangerous. But after a few minutes we'd already conceded two goals. Inter were very strong - they were clearly superior for the first 30 minutes, then we started to play better and also create opportunities to score. The second half was very even, we scored one and went close to equalising. Spartak have not played at this level in last five years and now every match is vital because we are growing in confidence with each game. It is very difficult but we can still qualify because we have two of our three remaining games at home and I hope our supporters can help us against Inter and [FC] Bayern [München].

Dejan Stanković, Inter midfielder
I think the victory was fully deserved even if we tired in the second half and lived a bit dangerously. It is an important win because now we can still hope to qualify. We will go to Moscow to get another win in two weeks' time. Regarding my disallowed goal, that was a very difficult decision for the referee [Bertrand Layec], a very close call. He whistled a foul and I can only accept his decision.