Inter Milan manager Antonio Conte has asked his players to give “extra push” to “achieve the maximum” when they face Sevilla in the final of the UEFA Europa League on Friday.
Conte was also seen talking about his experience from playing days when he won and lost finals. Citing his example, the Italian coach said that history is always written by the winners and, thus, urged his players to win the Europa League final.
“As a player, I was certainly involved in a lot of finals. While I experienced victories, I also lost some too. People only remember if you win: I won one Champions League trophy but also lost three finals. Only victories go down in history,” Conte was quoted as saying on the official website of Inter Milan.
“This is why there needs to be enthusiasm and positivity: we’ve had a very important Europa League campaign, one which will serve as an experience for the future. We should be proud of the fact that we’ve reached a final for the first time in ten years. History is written by winners, and this will provide us with an extra push so we can achieve the maximum,” he added.
Speaking about his record of winning a major trophy in his first year of coaching every club, Conte expressed his wish of continuing the streak and thanked the players he has coached till date.
“This is because I have a great group with players that have shown great willingness to work and a desire to make themselves available for the cause. We wanted to become protagonists and we’ve managed to be competitive in all the competitions we’ve been involved in
“I saw that we were making progress through our work, that our ideas were taking root. We believed and became braver. The fact that we had more courage meant that our chances of winning the Europa League increased. We need to demonstrate this out on the pitch against a team that is used to winning this competition. It won’t be easy, but we’ll do all that we can to bring joy to our fans,” the former Chelsea manager added.
A brace each from Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez, added with Danilo D’Ambrosio’s goal, had inspired the Inter Milan to a massive 5-0 victory against Shakhtar Donetsk in the semi-final earlier this week.
Spanish club Sevilla, on the other hand, had shocked English Premier League giants Manchester United in the other semi-final.