Conte: "It was important to qualify"

FLORENCE - After 120 minutes of football, Inter came away from the Stadio Artemio Franchi with a ticket to the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia. The Nerazzurri beat Fiorentina 2-1 after a game with a lot of chances for Antonio Conte’s men, who were pegged back by Kouame after Vidal had converted from the penalty spot. Lukaku then scored a 119th-minute winner in extra time. Inter progress to the quarters, where they will meet AC Milan in a straight knockout tie. Here are the Inter Coach’s post-match comments to Inter TV:

“The boys did really well. They played with a good tempo and organisation for 120 minutes. I’m also happy for those that haven’t had as much of an opportunity to play recently: they did well and showed that they have Inter in their hearts and always want to do well.”

What answers did you get from this match?

“Only positive answers. I said yesterday that, irrespective of who was selected, the best Inter side would take to the pitch. We needed to rest a few because we had a lot of players who were struggling or who had a few aches or pains, like de Vrij, Bastoni, Brozovic, Barella and Lukaku. However, we sent a good side out to play. We have a group of lads that feel involved and want to do well.”

Are you worried about the fact that you played 120 minutes ahead of Sunday’s match against Juventus?

"No, the lads are well trained, and the positive aspect is we’ve played at a difficult ground and progressed to the next round. Every victory provides you with pure energy, wins recharge the batteries. A lot of nervous energy is often used up, so it was important for us to make it through today. We’ve got time to recover ahead of Sunday’s match, which is an important test to ascertain the level we’re at and see the extent to which we’ve reduced the gap compared to last season. We’ll prepare for it in the right way, and this result will give us a big boost.”