Antonio Conte was euphoric after Inter’s hard-fought win against Verona in Serie A Round 32 on Sunday afternoon. The Nerazzurri were put to the ropes by Ivan Juric’s side and risked being held to a tie for the third game in a row.
However, they once again found some unexpected help from Matteo Darmian who, just like against Cagliari two weeks ago, scored the only goal in the game to pull the chestnuts out of the fire for the Beneamata.
With five Serie A games left, Inter need only five more points before arithmetically conquering their first Italian title since 2010. But they have showed a dip in form over the past few weeks, which made today’s win overly important for the Nerazzurri and their coach, who run to hug his boys as Darmian scored the winner of the day.
Here is how Conte explained his wild celebration after the game:
“In my run towards my boys I can say 95% of our conquest of the Scudetto, it was an important run. Sure, we still have to conquer it, but today’s win was an important one against a difficult team like Verona. They came here with nothing to lose and played to the death. Today’s three points count as nine,” said the coach.
Conte also reflected on his side’s recent performances, noting that “the problem is that the ball is starting to feel heavier. We have many players who never found themselves in this situation [at the top of the league table]. We can feel the pressure.”
On top of that, the Nerazzurri’s manager had some encouraging words for his defensive trio and spoke of how the team is evolving under his guidance:
“I see many similarities between Skriniar, De Vrij, and Bastoni, and Bonucci, Barzagli, and Chiellini from my early days at Juventus. They had not had any successes yet either. But once you start winning, you get more consciousness and confidence. Of course, you need to have the basics and the three from Juve proved to be champions. I hope my boys can do the same.”
“Over the past two years, I worked a lot with the guys when it comes to their mindset, because Inter had not been competitive for a long time. We tried to win last year, and now we are very close to conquering the Scudetto. Sometimes I am hard with the guys, but I have met very few winners who can also be soft…The path ahead is made of hard work, sacrifices, and deprivations. Who offers is seen badly at the beginning, but once the players understand they have a stable lead they will totally trust you.”
Antonio Conte’s last remarks were related to the taboo word Scudetto:
“I always talked about that, a coach of my level can never be satisfied. When I came to Inter I signed a three-year deal knowing that I had at least a 1% chance of winning, my target has always been the maximum possible. My last name comes with expectations of winning and, if I don’t do that, it becomes a problem.”