Antonio Conte was left to rue Inter Milan’s lack of cutting edge as they slipped to a 2-1 Champions League defeat against Barcelona in the Nou Camp. Inter got the night off to the perfect start as Lautaro Martinez stunned Camp Nou by putting the Nerazzurri ahead after just two minutes, but Barca eventually hit back to take the win courtesy of a Luis Suarez brace.
Conte was left frustrated on the sidelines. He spent a good part of his post-match press conference criticising the referee for showing a lack of respect to his players.
But when he turned to the match, he admitted that his side may have paid the price for not taking some of the chances they had created before Suarez completed the comeback.
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Even so he was not too critical of his players. Inter have started life well in Serie A and are very much a work in progress after Conte took charge of the club over the summer with the aim of winning the Scudetto.
However, he admits his side have a lot to learn from the Barca defeat. “Maybe we had to be better at capitalising on the opportunities we created because we put a team like Barcelona in serious trouble,” he said. “In the second half they certainly pushed more, I think that for some of our players’ physical energy has dropped, it is the sixth game in a few days. “Today’s defeat has been undeserved, we lick our wounds and we know we have to work to be stronger.”
