Wake up call! Bastoni tells Inter team-mates to drop ego and face cold reality

Inter Milan defender Alessandro Bastoni represented the squad alongside head coach Cristian Chivu ahead of Wednesday's UEFA Champions League clash against Shakhtar Donetsk at the San Siro. The Nerazzurri seek to recover from a wild 4-3 Matchday 2 defeat against Club Brugge.

Despite holding an undefeated historical record against the Ukrainian champions, Bastoni warned that securing three points is essential to remain in contention for the top eight.

"Tomorrow we're forced to get a result, or it becomes impossible to get into the top eight," Bastoni stated.

Reflecting on Inter's recent struggles, Bastoni insisted the team must abandon past glory and take individual responsibility. "We need to look more at reality. The finals and the journeys we've had in the Champions League in recent years are a thing of the past," Bastoni declared.

"The schedule and recent matches must bring us back down to earth. Starting tomorrow, we need to deliver a significant response."

"Intellectual honesty is needed from each of us... looking at individual incidents, you see many individual errors," the defender added.

Addressing why Inter have fallen behind six times across all competitions this season, Bastoni pointed to psychological factors rather than tactical setups. "I've never seen the team enter the pitch unfocused or smug," Bastoni explained. "Perhaps we have a poor perception of danger."

"We think it's difficult to score goals, and we concede trivial errors."

"Limiting this will be difficult... but if we succeed, I'm certain we'll concede less and make progress," he noted.

Equipped with a fresh reality check, Inter host Arda Turan's in-form Shakhtar Donetsk side, who travel to Lombardy on a five-game winning streak across all competitions.

Cristian Chivu's side aim to leverage home advantage at the San Siro to claim their first European win of the league phase.

Inter Milan take on Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday night at 20:00 BST.