Antonio Conte cut a dejected figure as Inter Milan bowed out of the Champions League on Wednesday night in woeful fashion.
Antonio Conte and Inter Milan were among the most talked-about topics from Champions League action on Wednesday night. However, it was for the wrong reasons.
With just one win out of six group games, Inter finished bottom of Group B and couldn’t even qualify for the Europa League.
A goal against Shakhtar Donetsk would have seen Conte and company through to the Europa League at the very worst. Victory for Real Madrid against Borussia Monchengladbach and a goalless stalemate against Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday night meant the Nerazzurri said goodbye to Europe.
After the game, Antonio Conte was asked some questions and it took no time before the Italian manager got irritated at what he felt were ‘needless’ questions.
Firstly, he was asked about the manner of his substitutions. Sanchez came in for Roberto Gagliardini at the 75th while Christian Eriksen, Matteo Darmian, and Danilo D’Ambrosio were last-gasp attempts on 86 minutes.
“I introduced Alexis Sanchez with 20 minutes to go including stoppages. We would’ve been unbalanced with three strikers, but then I think Lautaro ran out of steam. In midfield, those were the players I had,” he said as per Sky Sport Italia.
“It was either Alexis or Eriksen for Gagliardini, but I preferred to add another striker and go for the win. When I saw Lautaro was out of steam, I introduced Eriksen.”
When Conte was asked how Inter drew 0-0 with Shakhtar both home and away but beat this same team 5-0 in the Europa League semi-final in August, he got even more irritated.
“Shakhtar came here and transformed their tactics against us in order to neutralize us. They lost 5-0, so that’s why they changed. Think before asking questions!”
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