Lega Serie A week 18
AC Milan and Inter are the first two clubs in the Italian Serie A to reach 40 points. This year could be the end of Juventus’ domination of the Italian league. Recently, Inter Milan and Juventus faced at San Siro, Milan. The encounter saw the meetings of two former Juventus players Antonio Conte and Andrea Pirlo now coach each respective team. The previous week, Juventus beat AC Milan 3-1 at San Siro and was hoping to do the charm another time. But Inter played a strong game and won 2-0 with a goal in each half.
Inter are contenders
Coach Conte comments on the big win:
“To beat a strong side like Juventus, you need to play the perfect game. We were really good tonight. Beyond the result, we prepared perfectly and the best feeling for me is that the players did what we worked on in training in order to cause problems for our opponents.
We stuck to our game plan and I’m happy for the boys because these wins give you a lot of confidence and help you to understand that you’re on the right track. This path we set out on a year and a half ago is bearing fruit. My compliments to the lads because they’ve always work excellently. We’re going in the right direction to reduce the gap.
This is an amazing feeling for me after a year and a half of work. The Club has it’s esteem on a national and international level back; you don’t get to a European final and not merit this esteem. Getting knocked out of the Champions League still hurts; we would’ve liked to have gone further in that competition, but the boys know this and that you need to find the right motivation to improve from disappointment.”
Juventus’ run might end
Juventus is having a tough season, sitting 10 points behind the leaders. They will need a strong run to close the season in order to win a tenth consecutive Scudetto.
Coach Pirlo on the loss:
“Our attitude was all wrong from the very beginning and when you lack anger and determination in matches like these, it’s an uphill struggle. We dropped deep and were too fearful of Inter’s attack – we were entirely preoccupied by our defensive work, without even being aggressive, but in these sorts of contests you need to match your opponents for competitive desire.
Over a long run, these slip-ups can happen and it’s a shame because we came into this in good form, however a team like Juventus can never show that kind of attitude. In our preparations for the match, we focused on their switches of play and the forward runs of their central midfielders, and that’s exactly where their goals came from. However, if the team fails to do what we rehearsed, it’s my responsibility. We couldn’t have put in a worse performance than this but now we need to pick ourselves up because we’ve got a cup final on Wednesday.”
