Antonio Conte believes Inter’s performance against Juventus tonight showed that they have closed the gap to the Bianconeri.
Inter may well have been eliminated from the Coppa Italia at the semi-final stage after a 2-1 aggregate defeat to their arch rivals, following a goalless draw in Turin, but in his post-match press conference, Conte remained upbeat.
The Nerazzurri created more than Juve across the two games but ultimately paid for two naive mistakes during last week’s first leg.
Asked in his first press conference question whether Inter’s season would be a failure if they did not win the Serie A title, Conte said: “We’re starting like this are we?
“Look, I think that in all competitions only one team can win.
“If all the others fail their season because they don’t win then it would be a disaster for everyone.
“So going by that logic, all the other teams have failed all seasons.
“This evening Inter showed we have significantly closed the gap with Juventus from all points of view.
“This must give us strength and faith in what we are doing, then the other considerations are just yours.”
The former Italian national team coach was then asked what needs to be done to close what remains of the gap between the two sides.
“What is needed is to work over the years and try to improve the team year by year,” Conte argued.
“We need to do this, I believe that in a year and a half we have made important progress from all points of view because the gap that existed before was an important gap.
“Now it has decreased and we have shown it also in the past two matches against them in the Coppa Italia.”
Conte proceeded to discuss the performances of strike partnership Lautaro Martinez and Romelu Lukaku.
“Lautaro and Lukaku played their game, giving everything for Inter, for the team.
“They work hard and try to grow, let’s not forget that Lautaro is only 22-years-old, it is only the second season in which he plays continuously.
“He is growing, he is not yet a finished player, he has great room for improvement and growth.
“The same goes for Romelu, he too has ample room for improvement.
“We must continue to work and improve, trying to do more.”
Conte, who has been in charge of Inter for the past season and a half, then went on to recall Inter’s elimination from the UEFA Champions League earlier on this season.
“We went out of the Champions League having lost two games against Real Madrid,” he said.
“A goal against Shakhtar was enough to go through, but we were not ruthless and precise, especially when it came to scoring goals given the chances we had.
“That said, we always enter competitions with the aim of getting to the end.
“Even in the Champions League we had the goal of going through, even if reality says that we went out.
“Like last season we have gone out in the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia against a team that was the dominant force for the last nine years in Italy.
“We deserved something more but that’s how it went, now we will think about the league, it will be tough but the others also know that Inter are a tough team and I repeat, even today we have shown it in all respects.”
In conclusion Conte was asked if the gap with Juventus had been closed completely based on the three Derby d’Italia games played this season.
“As for the gap with Juventus, I repeat, we have just started.
“I have been here for a year and a half and steps forward have been made from all points of view.”
