Antonio Conte believes that tomorrow’s game against Napoli could be crucial as far as his team’s Champions League aspirations are concerned. Sunday’s visitors are currently locked in a battle for third place with Udinese and Lazio, while a win would put the Bianconeri 14 points clear of the Azzurri and further strengthen their grip on a direct qualification spot.
The 42-year-old began: “Winning tomorrow would be an important step towards qualifying for the Champions League. Securing direct qualification would be something extraordinary. However, we must also stay alert and try to capitalise on any potential slip ups by Milan.”
Yet Conte is fully aware of the challenge that lies ahead and moved to praise the giant strides taken by Sunday’s opponents both in Italy and Europe.
“We know that we have a testing encounter ahead against a team who have done well in the Coppa Italia. They’ve also done extraordinary things in the Champions League and perhaps a bit more experience would have seen them in the semi-finals. It’s a tough fixture, so we’ll focus on ourselves without looking at the others.”
The conversation then turned to possible tactics that could be deployed to counteract Walter Mazzarri’s three-pronged strikeforce comprising of Cavani, Lavezzi and Hamsik.
“I always look to get my players in the condition to express themselves in the best possible way. The moment I realise this isn’t happening, I’m able to change things during the game because I have players capable of adopting two systems. Against both Inter and Milan, we began with a 3-5-2 and then switched to a 4-3-3 after the break.”
After championing the versatility of the team unit, Conte was then asked about tomorrow’s starting line-up. And despite referencing two strikers who would relish the opportunity to feature against their home town club, the manager’s cards, as ever, remained close to his chest.
“Either Borriello or Quagliarella could start. They’ve both got an extraordinary motivation to play. Quagliarella has had to overcome the after effects of his injury and is now getting back to his level. Things would have gone different for Borriello had he arrived in June, but he’s settling in and could be important.”
Source: Juventus.com
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