Conte: 'Juve played the long game'

Antonio Conte said Juventus “played the long game” for their 1-0 win over Parma and revealed his clumsy celebration.

“We won as Juve, as a great team who wanted the win and ran very few risks. We played the long game and did better, so I am happy with the performance,” the Coach told Sky Sport Italia.

“On Tuesday we have an important test against Real Madrid and some might’ve unconsciously thought about that game, but the lads did well to keep their concentration.

“I saw the right mentality. We rotated the squad and this also gave us an advantage in the long run.

“Mirko Vucinic and Stephan Lichtsteiner cannot recover for Tuesday. They haven’t trained with the rest of the side yet and to be honest I don’t know if they’ll be back for Napoli either.”

Conte slightly over-celebrated when Paul Pogba turned in the rebound from Fabio Quagliarella’s shot against the bar.

“Usually Angelo Alessio holds me up when I celebrate, but this time he didn’t hold me and we both fell over!

“We always want to see shots like that from Quagliarella. It’s an incredible strike, the kind he can do, even if at times he over-does it and makes me angry. He had one from 40 metres into the top corner when I was Coach of Atalanta.

“Paul also did very well to follow it up and keep his finish down, which was not easy.”

Angelo Ogbonna had a few nervous moments in the back three and has still not found his confidence.

“We signed Angelo from Torino, where he played with real character and charisma. This was a big step up for him and he also had to change his approach, as at Juventus anything you do is amplified in the media.

“He has all the qualities to become a very strong defender and that’s why we signed him. He needs to be more determined, especially in the tackle, and be aware of what he can give to this side.

“Claudio Marchisio played well at a high intensity for 60 minutes and has been a regular this season, so I opted to give him a slight rest in the second half. I’m convinced he’ll soon be back to the old Marchisio.”