Antonio Conte spoke at the pre-match press conference ahead of Inter’s match away to Barcelona tomorrow night and firstly discussed the tricky group that his Nerazzurri find themselves in.

“Our group is certainly both interesting and difficult, as we noticed in the match against Slavia Prague. It is essential, that if you have the ambition and the hope of progressing, you must try to pick up points wherever you play. Playing away to Barcelona is not easy as they are among the best teams in the world but we come to play our game.

He was then asked about the affect Lionel Messi has on Barcelona.



“I expect a difficult match because we are coming up against one of the best teams in the world who Messi plays for. Together with Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the the best players.

“On the one hand, there is a desire to face Barcelona at their strongest but we must be ready to face them with or without Messi.

“We need to play an intense game and do well both in and out of possession. We must make sure that we are ready. We want to do well and show that we are on the right path. We are at the beginning of a path, we hope to compete soon.

“As I always say, the game of our life is the next one and after Barcelona we will face Juventus, it will be a beautiful and intense few days. We do not need any stimulation, we will be entirely focused on tomorrow’s match.”

Next he was asked for his thoughts on Barcelona’s 16-year-old sensation Ansu Fati.

“He is a very promising player. He is someone that can become a real star for Barcelona.”

He was then asked whether he thinks there are comparisons to be made to Jose Mourinho’s Inter.

“First of all, we know what Inter did in 2010, it is something difficult to repeat. There is respect for Mourinho and for that team but I say that making comparisons is impossible, we are in a different time. We are at the beginning of a path that can lead us to grow to have the ambition to give joy to our fans. What Inter did back then will remain indelible in the history of football.”

Next he spoke on the fact his team could potentially face both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo within a few days of one another.



“It is strange to face them within a few days. Juventus and Barcelona are among the strongest in the world. For us it must be a source of satisfaction because we are presenting ourselves in front of Barcelona as the team at the top of Serie A after 6 victories in the league. The team is working to increase its merits, it must be a joy to challenge these two big sides with those two great players.”

He then came to the defence of Alexis Sanchez, after the Chilean was sent off against Sampdoria and discussed whether he will start.

“I did not like some of the things that were said about him and his diving. He is a good guy and a player that I respect. He is getting used to our ideas and tomorrow you will see what choices I make. He can give us so much because of the experience he has.”

Conte then commented on claims that Italian football is too slow in comparison to football played elsewhere in Europe.

“In Italy the matches are much more tactical, and usually it sees teams cancel one another out. For this reason the spaces on the pitch are reduced and the tempo slows right down. In England, Germany and Spain there is more open matches and more intensity.”

He then returned to discuss tomorrow night’s match and then the match with Juventus too.



“The result must be the consequence of what we will try to propose. We must play our cards right at the Camp Nou with courage and desire. I prefer the performance to the result after a game in which we have little of the ball. We are trying to grow in terms of mentality and professionalism.

“Nobody prepares for games to not win or draw or limit the damage. It would be going against the grain of what I ask my boys to do. I ask everyone to give the best version of himself, we must do this with confidence.

“So far we have had positive responses. I want to face the situation by looking right into Barcelona’s eyes and not be a boxer who is so defensive that they avoid getting punched.”



He was then asked by a journalist if his Inter are facing Barcelona at the right time.

“Whether the time is right or not, we must be good, regardless of their ups and downs. We are talking about a team managed by Ernesto Valverde who has the likes of Luis Suarez, Messi and Antoine Griezmann available to him.

“There is great respect for them. We want to show that we can play against them, this is a step for us, we will be challenging a team accustomed to winning the Champions League. I want to see passion and enthusiasm tomorrow from my players.”

He concluded by confirmed that Romelu Lukaku will be an absentee due to a muscle problem.

“Lukaku is not here with us, he had a slight muscular issue in his quadricep that he has been carrying for 10 days. He was continuing to feel the problem and the tests were negative, but we preferred in any case not to take any chances with him.

“We have to rely on how the player feels in these cases. It’s not a tear, so we are fairly relaxed and will focus on that only after tomorrow’s game with Barcelona.”