Antonio Conte has warned his Inter players they will need maximum concentration in order to beat Parma tomorrow.
The Nerazzurri head into their round 25 fixture at the Stadio Ennio Tardini hoping to consolidate their four-point lead at the top of Serie A.
Conte has had trouble with Parma since joining Inter in 2019 and is under no illusions that this match will be any easier.
“It’s a tough game because Parma have caused us problems in the past year and a half,” Conte told reporters in his pre-match press conference today.
“We’ve only managed to win once while drawing the other two games.
“They’re not in a good position in the table but they have experience, quality and a great coach in Roberto D’Aversa.
“We’ll need to be very concentrated and play with the right approach.
“Parma are good at getting forward, we’ll need to be very careful because they have players who can hurt you on the counterattack.”
Conte was asked next about whether Inter will be able to handle the pressure of being Serie A’s leaders, as well as where his team needs to improve before the end of the season.
“The team has improved, but that said the pressure will only get bigger between now and the end of the season,” he said.
“We’re in a different position compared to last season, we’re top and we’ll need to show we can handle the pression having reached the level of maturity that you need in order to win.
“We need to be more ruthless and determined up front, we create a lot with the whole team so it’s not just about the forwards.
“We need to be more precise and make the most of all the situations we create.”
Conte was also questioned on Chilean duo Arturo Vidal and Alexis Sanchez, both of whom are on the fringes of the Inter XI at present.
“Vidal is training and is trying to reach consistent fitness, because he’s had numerous problems since he arrived,” Conte explained.
“He’s a generous player, he never wanted to stop and make himself unavailable for selection.
“We must thank him for this, but at the same time it was right that he started to try and arrive at 80% fitness, not even his peak condition.
“He’s working, he’s available and he could play 90 minutes just like he could play 30 minutes or not play at all.
“Sanchez is in his best physical condition since he joined Inter.
“He came off two difficult years at Manchester United and after his ankle problem we waited for him for several months.
“It’s taken patience from both sides but now he’s in his best moment of form.
“I’m starting to see those sprints we saw in the old Alexis, credit to him for continuing to train.
“He knows full well he has Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez in front of him and they’re both doing very well, but these two know as well that they have a player behind them who’s eager to get going and can give an important contribution.”
Inter have four key players who are a booking away from suspension – Lukaku, Marcelo Brozovic, Nicolo Barella and Alessandro Bastoni.
Conte was asked whether he might consider resting them tomorrow ahead of Monday’s big game at home to Atalanta, but his response was crystal clear.
“My experience tells me you should never look beyond the next game,” he argued.
“The most important match for us is against Parma, we need to win while knowing the difficulties of this game.
“I’m not interested in making calculations, if someone gets booked then someone else will replace them.
“I have great faith in the whole squad and I don’t see any reason to make stupid calculations.”
Brozovic and Christian Eriksen have struck up a great understanding in recent weeks, leading Inter to dominate games more with better possession in midfield.
Asked if there was something else behind the Nerazzurri’s seemingly improved attacking play, Conte responded: “We always try to move the ball quickly, sometimes we do it better than on other occasions.
“To be honest I think we played great games in the past, otherwise we wouldn’t be where we are now.
“It’s not a question of just the last three games, there’s a long period in which we’ve done well.
“The difference is now we’re not conceding goals, beforehand we were a bit more offensive and unbalanced.
“Now we’re less so.”
Conte also had a question about the improvements Inter had made as a team since this stage of last season.
“I think it’s a matter of fact, we’ve beaten the team who’s won the last nine league titles,” he said, referring to the Nerazzurri’s 2-0 win over Juventus in January.
“I think that’s important, not least because they beat us twice last year and confirmed their strength.
“That win (against Juve) gave us self-esteem and awareness of our abilities.
“It’s inevitable that you will improve individually and in terms of organisation if you work for more than a year, in terms of mentality and desire as well.
“That said, you know very well that there are 14 games left until the end of the season and like I said before, we’ll have to prove we’ve improved totally.
“There’s only one way to show that and that’s to win, if you don’t win you always have room for improvement.
“It will be difficult not to drop points between now and the end of the season, each game in Serie A contains traps and difficulties.
“We’ll certainly need to keep a good pace, it’s inevitable that every game between now and the end will be like a final.
“Like I said before, the closer you get to the end of the season the more you get other aspects which come into play, not only footballing but psychological and mental too.
“We’ll need to show we’ve made a total step forwards, otherwise we wouldn’t have done it completely yet.”
