The Saints wasted a fantastic chance to claim a historic win at the San Siro but can put things right on Thursday.
Southampton must learn from the mistakes that consigned them to defeat at the San Siro as they aim to take revenge on Inter Milan in the Europa League, midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg told the club’s Twitter account.
The Saints dominated for the most part away at the 2009/10 treble winners but a series of missed, gilt-edged chances, most notably from Virgil Van Dijk and Charlie Austin, meant Antonio Candreva’s sharp strike early in the second half was enough to seal a smash and grab win for the outplayed hosts.
Inter, who have since sacked manager Frank de Boer after a dismal start to the season which left them in mid-table in Serie A, travel to St Mary’s on Thursday aiming for another win that would go some way to overshadowing horrifying defeats to Hapoel Be’er Sheva and Sparta Prague in Group K.
And Hojbjerg, who impressed with his dynamic running and precise passing in Italy, says Southampton cannot afford to be so profligate in front of goal this time around as they look to reach the second stage of European competition for the first time since the 1981/82 UEFA Cup.
“These are European games,” the former Bayern Munich youngster told the club’s Twitter account.
“If you don’t pull the trigger, if you don’t score the goals and kill them when you have the opportunity…this is how it is. It’s on a high level.
We need to be 100 per cent focused in front of goal and just need to kill the game. That’s what it’s all about.”
The Saints side lost for the first time in the league since early September when they succumbed to a Diego Costa-inspired Chelsea on Sunday, and Claude Puel will be more than aware that a similar performance on Thursday could irreparably damage their chances of extending their European journey into the New Year.
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