Antonio Conte has made Inter a dominant force in Serie A but he’ll need to rethink his ideas in Europe, a leading Italian journalist warned today.
Inter went 11 points clear at the top of the table last night after beating Sassuolo 2-1, courtesy of goals in either half from Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez.
Conte’s side have now won 10 league games on the bounce and seem destined to pick up the Scudetto, but their cautious approach against the Neroverdi has divided opinion in Italy.
“Conte has completed a masterpiece,” Gazzetta dello Sport columnist Luigi Garlando wrote in today’s print edition.
“He took over Inter when they were 22 points adrift of Juventus (at the end of the 2018-19 season) and has improved everything: his players, the team’s confidence and their league position.
“But after the Serie A games last night we saw the Champions League quarter-finals and it was a different world, almost another sport.
“Antonio knows that too, because he’s had plenty of experience there: in Europe it’s the teams that dominate who win.”
Inter recorded their lowest Serie A possession stats in Opta history (since 2004) against Sassuolo, enjoying just 30% of the ball at San Siro.
Despite this, Conte’s side have shown an incredible prowess going forward this season and currently boast the league’s joint-best attack with Atalanta (68 goals in 29 games).
“Conte’s success is a paradox, he has created a modern and winning version of ‘Pazza Inter’,” Garlando explained.
“Inter are dominating the league, but they conceded 70% possession at home against a Sassuolo side that was decimated by absences.
“But we all know that history is written by the winners, and even if Conte said ‘I want to enjoy myself’ at the start of the season, last night he said: ‘If you want aesthetic beauty then go the aesthetics centre.'”
Inter will look to take another stride towards a first league title since 2010 when they host struggling Cagliari on Sunday afternoon.
