Antonio Conte says Inter ‘made Shakhtar Donetsk look average’ in their 5-0 domination and want to ‘amaze’ in the Europa League Final against Sevilla.
The 5-0 result was the biggest semi-final victory since Milan crushed Real Madrid in the 1988-89 European Cup by the same scoreline.
Antonio Conte says Inter ‘made Shakhtar Donetsk look average’ in their 5-0 domination and want to ‘amaze’ in the Europa League Final against Sevilla.
The 5-0 result was the biggest semi-final victory since Milan crushed Real Madrid in the 1988-89 European Cup by the same scoreline.
“I think we reached the Final playing against a team that we made look less strong than it was, but Shakhtar have a lot of talent and we stopped them playing with the pressing all over the pitch,” Conte told Sky Sport Italia.
“They have a lot of quality in their passing, also pace, but we did well to force them into defending, which we know full well they aren’t as comfortable with as keeping the ball.
“We played with courage, had the right plan, played a very European game in the right way and the players deserve all the credit. It was a super performance and we made Shakhtar look average.”
Inter are the first Italian club to reach the Europa League/UEFA Cup Final since Parma in 1999, but they’ll be up against serial winners Sevilla.
“It’s satisfying for everyone. The most important thing for me is that many lads are playing this type of game for the first time. They are gaining experience at an important level in a tournament that Italy have not been protagonists in for a long time.
“Sevilla have a great deal of experience, I think they won it four times in the last six or seven years. However, we have enthusiasm, hunger and the desire to amaze people.
“Now we need to rest, recuperate and try to give some joy to the Inter fans, who I think will be proud of these lads, because they are giving their heart and soul.
“As I always said, we have to leave the field with no regrets. We must know that we’ve given our all, done everything we possibly could, so if we do lose, it’s because the opponents were better.”
Conte was inevitably asked about the furious rant he gave Sky Sport Italia after the final Serie A game of the season, when accusing the club of giving him and his squad ‘zero protection.’ President Steven Zhang flew in to Germany last night to be with the team, has that been resolved?
“I don’t feel like going back over certain situations. I felt some things at the time and felt the need to say it. What I say is always aimed at being constructive. The media likes to emphasise some situations more than others, but at the same time, I know we have to go through certain steps to become what Inter want to be in future.
“I am not a political person. I stick to facts and action, not being particularly diplomatic, but I try to be constructive and not to offend anyone.”
Inter have truly stepped up several gears over the last month or so.
“The work we did throughout the year, including the post-lockdown period, finally paid off. The lads knew, I genuinely believed we could be protagonists at the end of the season and in the various Cup competitions.
“I think we’ve been unlucky in the Champions League and Coppa Italia, as we deserved more. We had some unjustifiable slip-ups in Serie A, especially against Bologna and Sassuolo.
“However, I believe you learn more from negative situations than positive ones. We learned, used those lessons, and you can see the progress. At the end of it all, we finished Serie A one point off Juventus, and superior to them in many statistics.
“We wanted to be protagonists in the Europa League, we’re in the Final, so let’s enjoy that tonight and then think about Sevilla tomorrow.”
Danilo D’Ambrosio and Nicolò Barella said that Conte is a ‘teacher of football,’ so how does he achieve that rapport?
“It’s inevitable that when you propose a certain type of work, and everyone knows we are quite intense here physically, tactically and also psychologically, you can find a player who gets fed up and turns his back.
“However, if players are intelligent, they realise it’s an opportunity to grow, to improve and to get stronger. I am always very open and clear with my players, everything I say is for the good of the players and the club.”