Inter manager Antonio Conte has shared his belief that Inter were the better of the two sides in last night’s Europa League last 16 clash against Getafe.
Inter ran out 2-0 winners over the Spanish side with thanks to goals from Romelu Lukaku and Christian Eriksen and will now begin preparations to face either Rangers or Bayer Leverkusen in the quarter final stage of the competition in the next few days time.
“Honestly, I did not think that Getafe were better than Inter. Getafe were superior to us only at the beginning, when they had those two chances where they could have scored goals,” he explained to the gathered media in the post-match press conference at the Veltins-Arena following last night’s match.
“Then after that I only remember our goals, our actions and chances wasted by Lukaku and Sanchez to get an even bigger result.”
The recently turned 51-year-old, who is coming to the end of his first season in charge of the Nerazzurri club, then went on to congratulate Getafe for their performance against his side.
“Anyway, congratulations to Getafe who are a tough team, who you have to be ready to face even by playing a dirty game. It’s a compliment to them, they have a real competitive spirit and we did well to answer them, I’m happy from this point of view.”
The former Italian national team manager was then asked if he thinks the victory is a sign that the team have grown on a psychological basis and further understood his ideas about football.
“Getafe started better than us, in a more intense and determined way. The game was very clear, they wanted to put us under pressure, look for the long ball and create danger for us with crosses and by bringing many people into the box.
“We were good at cashing in to take control of the game by creating chances. They got off to a frenzied start then dropped off, then in the second half we could have also upped our score.
“I don’t remember Getafe having any great chances. I’m happy because the boys are growing in terms of concentration and mentality, things that we have alternated between in the league.
“I’m happy, we haven’t conceded a goal in five games. We played against an excellent team that came from a period of rest and could have put us in difficulty.”
