Napoli-Inter, Conte: “I would never have asked Marotta to be a dad”

Antonio Conte’s words cut like blows. The response to Marotta’s criticisms of the referee is very harsh. “The difference between Napoli and Inter is that in these cases a senior manager comes in front of the cameras and instead here I come. I believe that a great team must ask itself what are the real reasons why it lost and not appeal to the mistakes of others, because then alibis are created for the environment and the players. As a coach I would not have allowed one of my managers to do this. Let a president come and make these considerations… With all due respect, let him leave things to those who have experienced the match. I’ve never asked my presidents to be dads and do the official defense” said the coach after the success against the Nerazzurri.

on Lautaro

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During the meeting there was a heated exchange with Lautaro Martinez. But Conte, in this regard, downplayed the incident, recalling with pleasure the years spent in Milan. “When you play this type of match there are things that can happen. In my two seasons at Inter I brought the team back to winning the Scudetto, interrupting Juventus’ run of nine titles, and you know what that club means to me. Lautaro is an excellent player, then from a human point of view maybe I didn’t get to know him properly, but I wish him all the best for the rest.”

the match

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So, moving on to the match, the manager’s analysis exudes a certain pride. “We faced a very strong team, for me the best there is in Italy, they reached the Champions League final twice in three years. Inter’s squad is out of reach compared to the others. Having won with all the difficulties, like today when we were missing Hojlund, Lobotka, Rrahmani, Meret, plus the absences of Lukaku and that of De Bruyne during the match… It’s not really our year, they must have sent us a bit bad luck but we fight back blow for blow. Inter wanted to kill us sportingly, because we were in difficulty after the defeats against Torino and PSV, but we don’t want to die and it came out as a tough and vigorous match. We gave an excellent performance” concluded Conte.