Conte: "We dominated Shakhtar for 180 minutes, it's incredible that we didn't manage to score"
Team
— Dec 9th 2020Quotes from the Coach following Inter's elimination from Europe
MILAN – It was a bitter evening for the Nerazzurri, who failed to achieve a victory that would have seen them progress to the round of 16 of the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League. Just like they did in Ukraine, Inter and Shakhtar Donetsk played out a goalless draw at San Siro, with Antonio Conte’s men once again unable to find a way through despite controlling proceedings for the full 90 minutes.
This is what the Coach had to say after the match:
Were Inter lacking in determination this evening? "I don’t agree with this assessment. The team did everything they needed to. It’s incredible that we haven’t managed to score at least one goal over 180 minutes after dominating Shakhtar. It’s not a case of the lads lacking determination, they gave everything that they had. We had chances, they did well and also had fortune. Their goalkeeper was the best player on the pitch.”
Do you need to be more clinical to compete on the international stage? “These are things that must be considered with a cool head, not at the end of a match. There’s a lot of regret, but I don’t feel like saying there was a lack of determination, focus or aggression. A goal was lacking, and unfortunately if you don’t score you don’t win. We haven’t had much luck in the Champions League given certain incidents and refereeing decisions. Now that the group stage is over, I think I can say that we were also penalised by VAR, with many incidents that went unanalysed.”
Did you not think of making changes earlier in the second half when it seemed as if Inter were lacking energy?
“We didn’t have a huge amount of options. Perisic was brought on as a winger after an hour and Sanchez replaced Gagliardini with more than 20 minutes to play. We became a bit unbalanced. Eriksen then came on when Lautaro’s energy levels dropped. We must not forget that Shakhtar changed their way of playing to face us in the group after conceding five in the Europa League. This now happens against every team we face.