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Antonio Conte: “Shakhtar are a team full of talent”

Antonio Conte
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Inter Milan face Shakhtar Donetsk in the Europa League semi-finals and Antonio Conte is full of praise of their rivals.

Inter Milan eased past Getafe and Bayer Leverkusen to book their place in Europa League semi-finals. They take on Shakhtar Donestk, their toughest task so far. 

Antonio Conte is full of praise for the Ukrainian side. He has fond memories of playing against them while at the helm of Juventus.

“Shakhtar are a team full of talent and have shown over the years that they can change coach or players, but they always rebuild and maintain a very high level,” Football Italia quoted the Nerazzurri coach in his press conference.

“I remember when I was at Juventus against Shakhtar in the Champions League and together we knocked out Chelsea, who were the holders. At the time, they had players who weren’t well known yet, but they were the likes of Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Darijo Srna, Pyatov, etc.”

Conte has added players from Premier League to reinforce his Inter dressing room. The former Chelsea manager was in awe of how Shakhtar keep on finding precocious talents despite the outgoings. 

“I tip my hat to them and their directors for being able to constantly find these talents. I think Shakhtar play to their own strengths, so alternating periods of pressure with sitting back more and trying to hit us on the counter. They have their own very clear identity.”

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