Conte: "Important step, we're contenders and that's a great feeling"

MILAN - It was a perfect Inter performance from start to finish. The Nerazzurri dominated the derby d’Italia for 97 minutes, beating Juventus 2-0 thanks to goals from Vidal and Barella. The three points are richly deserved and were never in doubt.

Here are the thoughts from the Inter Head Coach after the game:

Was it the perfect game? What is the best thing you saw tonight? “To beat a strong side like Juventus, you need to play the perfect game. We were really good tonight. Beyond the result, we prepared perfectly and the best feeling for me is that the players did what we worked on in training in order to cause problems for our opponents. We stuck to our game plan and I’m happy for the boys because these wins give you a lot of confidence and help you to understand that you’re on the right track. This path we set out on a year and a half ago is bearing fruit. My compliments to the lads because they’ve always work excellently. We’re going in the right direction to reduce the gap.”

Can Inter win the Scudetto? “Inter are contenders. This is an amazing feeling for me after a year and a half of work. The Club has it’s esteem on a national and international level back; you don’t get to a European final and not merit this esteem. Getting knocked out of the Champions League still hurts; we would’ve liked to have gone further in that competition, but the boys know this and that you need to find the right motivation to improve from disappointment.”

Winning without goals from the strikers. “Our attackers didn’t score tonight but we did create plenty of chances. Lautaro and Romelu were a bit unlucky; this team creates a lot. Sometimes, we lack that killer instinct but, at the same time, a lot of our players have chances to score because we attack in numbers. The constants were the many chances we created and I’m not worried because I can see the right responses on the pitch. This was an important step in terms of mentality because we need to understand that you need to wear opponents down in certain games. I saw the right response but we’re just at the beginning and I want them to back this up. One swallow doesn't make a summer, but a win against Juventus surely shows that we are on the right path.”