'It was tough, but I know that she’s involved somehow tonight. Maybe she’s cheering me on from up there.'
Inter Milan's Davide Frattesi overcame personal heartbreak to net a late winner in Tuesday's 2-1 Champions League win at Bayern Munich on Tuesday after the midfielder's grandmother died the day before the first leg of their quarter-final tie.
Inter captain Lautaro Martinez had put the visitors in the driving seat after 38 minutes before Thomas Mueller equalised in the 85th minute.
Frattesi, who had come off the bench in the 74th minute, restored Inter's lead with two minutes of regulation time left to give the treble-chasing Italians a crucial advantage to take home.
"In my life, I’ve always thought that my best quality was my mindset. I found myself in a situation where I couldn’t continue on my usual path," Frattesi told Inter TV.
"I was very close to my grandmother and wasn’t used to seeing her like that.
"It was tough, but I know that she’s involved somehow tonight. Maybe she’s cheering me on from up there."
The 25-year-old said Inter had secured a terrific result on the back of Saturday's 2-2 Serie A draw at relegation-threatened Parma but needed to stay focused in the title run-in.
"We’ll try to attack even more, and we need to attack well when we manage to recover possession, like we did for the second goal this evening," Frattesi said of next week's return leg.
"We’ll need to play well and be ruthless."
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