Antonio Conte was adamant Inter deserved better in their 2-1 defeat to Juventus tonight.
The Nerazzurri took an early lead in their Coppa Italia semi-final first leg thanks to Lautaro Martinez, but Cristiano Ronaldo’s double secured victory for the visitors.
Inter now have it all to do in Turin when they play the return fixture next Tuesday.
“We did everything ourselves, in the first half we gave Juventus two gifts and they didn’t do much else to try and score,” Conte remarked in an interview with Italian broadcaster Rai Sport following the game at San Siro.
“We made two very naive mistakes that allowed them to go 2-1 ahead.
“As for the rest of the game, there was the yet another excellent performance, with many chances created.
“However, we needed to take advantage of them because instead we are now talking about a negative result.
“The boys gave everything, they put Juventus on the ropes.
“We deserved much, much more than the final result.”
Conte then looked ahead to next week’s second leg in Turin and outlined what his team have to do.
“We will have to win by two goals.
“It will not be a walk in the park because there will be a strong team in front of us.
“Let’s think about the match in Florence and then we’ll think about Tuesday’s match.”
Conte proceeded to discuss how Romelu Lukaku is feeling in the days since his spat with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and also touched upon Lukaku and Hakimi’s absences against Juve tonight, with both suspended.
“Romelu is calm,” Conte said of Lukaku.
“He has always behaved in the right way, he would never allow himself to offend anyone.
“We are talking about a decent boy and as for what is happening around us, we need to be more serene and go further.
“I understand that it makes headlines and the news creates chatter, but then at a certain point we have to say enough.
“Certainly Romelu and Hakimi are important to us, but I reiterate what I said earlier, the team put in a very good performance.
“There were two major mistakes on our part that could have been avoided then we were unable to take advantage of sensational chances and that explains the result.
“We must not cling to the absences as an excuse, whoever played has done their duty fully.
“Now we have to prepare the tough match against Fiorentina.”
Inter will be back in action on Friday night and Conte was asked whether he was happy about about having to play just 72 hours after tonight’s intense match.
“It is not my responsibility to say, if we have to play we play.
“I am the coach and when they tell me that that game is being played I prepare for it and then it is the club that must be happy or not.”
The former Azzurri boss proceeded to discuss the mistakes made at Juventus’ goals before going to discuss whether Juventus should have been given a penalty.
“I was a footballer.
“Mistakes happen, today there were two big ones.
“It is a shame because it was a semi-final.
“Should Juventus have been given a penalty? I haven’t seen it again, the important thing is that the person who saw it was the person who should have seen it.
“I hope that the right decisions will always be made, for or against.”
Next Conte was asked whether the ongoing rumours concerning the club and the financial state it is in make him uneasy to which he responded: “It is a particular situation, it is useless to hide from it.
“We had a project in August and it stopped in August.”
Conte then discussed how this game differed to the previous meeting and dismissed the idea that Inter are playing at a slower pace than last year.
“We prepared for the match knowing the positive things and the things that could put us in difficulty.
“We prepared the match in the same way as the last and it doesn’t seem to me that Juve created much if only we didn’t commit those two errors.
“We play slower than last year? I respect every evaluation, but if we had won 2-0 no one would have seen different things.
“The result affects the judgments, but I respect everyone’s opinions.
“This year we started attacking our opponents and taking important risks, in fact we conceded many goals as a result.
“We then decided to drop the defensive line but did so without having to stop pressing and we were much more effective, but those are just my thoughts.”
In conclusion, Conte addressed Arturo Vidal’s angry reaction to his substitution in the second half of the game.
“I don’t see the reactions of the players, I make the decisions.
“They have to be fine, period.
“Did I learn from Fabio Capello and Giovanni Trapattoni? If that is a compliment, I will take it.”
