After a conclusive 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund, Inter coach Antonio Conte praised his players and feels their efforts last season deserved nights like Wednesday.
Lautaro Martinez was the hero for Inter as he opened the scoring midway through the first half, and Antonio Candreva then sent the Meazza wild with a late second which secured the three points.
“The win keeps us in the hunt [for qualification to the knockout rounds] and give us hope to get out for a very difficult group,” Conte told the press.
“I’m happy for the players as they struggled to get into the Champions League and have evenings like this. The victory is testament to what they did last year.
“We are on the right road, and are able to have a say in such a hard group. It gives me a lot of satisfaction to work with a great group like this.
On the game itself, Inter restricted Dortmund to just three shots in total, and only two of which were on target.
“We worked a lot on the details of the game and maybe that’s why we were so tired at the end,” Conte said.
“We didn’t leave anything to chance and worked a lot to have the players prepared for everything.
“The group answered a lot of questions. In addition to Vecino during the game, De Vrij also had a problem, gritted his teeth and had a great match.
“The players have shown maturity in all phases of the match, unlike in the game against Sassuolo.
“If you want to improv you have to start thinking about important things and have that feeling of togetherness, of being a team that works as such in every stage of the game.
“We chose an area of the pitch where we would put pressure on them. We prepared to face a four-man defence, and were proactive.
“We knew that if you give space to quick players like [Jadon] Sancho, [Julian] Brandt or [Thorgan] Hazard, they can be devastating.”
In term of the impact the match will have on Inter’s season as a whole, Conte was quick to outline the fact that the club are at the beginning of their journey.
“It was an important match,” Conte continued. “But Inter didn’t start with ambitions for winning the Scudetto or the Champions League.
“We want to lay the foundations of something important, and do so over time. For many reasons, after building something it has been destroyed.
“Now we are starting from scratch after the departure of players like [Marco] Icardi, [Ivan] Perisic, and [Radja] Nainggolan.
“We have a lot of work to do and shouldn’t be taken by the emotional aspect of tonight’s game. We are working for the present and for the future.”
Source: forzaitalianfootball.com