Antonio Conte said on Tuesday that Inter Milan faced a tough task in Wednesday’s Champions League clash at Slavia Prague if they are to get the win they need to keep their hopes alive.
When the two teams met at the San Siro in the opening round of group games Inter needed a goal two minutes into stoppage time to salvage a 1-1 draw.
“We are a better team than when we played the first game against Slavia,” Conte said. “The team has been growing continually, we are far more compact and better prepared.”
“We will play our game, but we know it will be a tough match and we will definitely suffer just as Barcelona and Borussia did here.”
Inter need a win to retain hopes of qualifying for the knock-out stages. They have just four points from four games and sit third in the group, three behind Dortmund and four adrift of leaders Barcelona.
“We are playing for a big chance,” said Conte. “I know the odds are not fantastic really, but we’ll try to win.”
“I hope we can keep going in Europe because we need this type of game to keep improving.”
“We have started a path,” Conte said. “We are at the dawn. The team is ‘newborn’ but at the same time it is essential to continue in this competition to gain experience.”
Conte already has Inter in contention in Italy. They won 3-0 at Torino on Saturday to stay a point behind Serie A leaders Juventus.
But they lost midfielder Nicolo Barella, their scorer in the first meeting, who limped off and is due to undergo a surgery on his right knee.
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