Coppa Italia, Conte: "We deserved to qualify based on what we did over the 180 minutes"

NAPLES – Eriksen’s goal wasn’t enough to secure progression to the final of the Coppa Italia: after a 1-0 defeat at San Siro, the second leg at the San Paolo stadium against Napoli ended 1-1 as the Nerazzurri resumed their season.

Antonio Conte started his interview with Rai Sport by saying the following: “Looking at both matches, we deserved much more. Tonight, in terms of the performance, I have very little to reproach the boys about. This is the football we want to play, we created a lot and were aggressive. Maybe we should have been more clinical in front of goal, but Ospina performed miracles. Their goal was disappointing because it was a careless situation that we could have avoided. But I’m satisfied because we’re on the right path, we controlled the game against a strong Napoli team.

"My glass is half-full, we created numerous opportunities and had 17 efforts at goal. Ospina was the best player on the pitch,” he added. “Obviously, we can improve and we need to be more ruthless in the future, but I don’t have anything to complain about in terms of desire and determination. We did what we’d tried out in training, it’s disappointing for the lads not to qualify for the final because, based on what we did over the 180 minutes, we deserved to do so. We have to learn the lessons from these games to understand that the details make the difference. There are steps to be taken, but this is the right path.”

Finally, the Coach commented on Eriksen: “I’m really happy because he’s settling in well. We’ve worked with him a lot, both from a technical and physical point of view, which you can tell. I’m really happy with his performance.”