Inter defender Ivan Cordoba said the team made life difficult for themselves by being reactive to Panathinaikos' play.

"Relaxing is not in our mentality. Unfortunately Panathinaikos also played very well and deserve credit, but we certainly were not up to the level of previous nights and had real problems on set plays," he said of the 1-0 home defeat.

"We also lacked a bit of tempo, but we could've controlled possession better and taken more of the initiative." "First place is there for the taking in Bremen. We made life difficult for ourselves, but it is in the past now and we have to go to Germany to get the result we need."