Inter deserved much more – Conte upbeat despite Coppa Italia exit

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Naples, June 14: Antonio Conte felt Inter deserved to reach the Coppa Italia final after a second-leg draw away to Napoli saw them knocked out 2-1 on aggregate.

Inter had lost the home leg of the semi-final 1-0 at San Siro back in March, prior to the Italian season being shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Playing for the first time since the suspension, the Nerazzurri quickly erased the deficit as Christian Eriksen scored straight from a corner inside the opening two minutes at the San Paolo.

However, Dries Mertens' equaliser just before half-time – his 122nd goal for the club, making him Napoli's all-time leading scorer – proved crucial in deciding who would progress to face Juventus in Wednesday's final.

Conte was pleased with how his team performed overall, pointing to an inspired performance from Napoli goalkeeper David Ospina – as well as a lack of a ruthless streak in the final third – as the reasons behind them missing out on a trip to Rome.

"Looking at both matches, we deserved much more," the Inter boss said in his post-match interview with Rai Sport.

"In terms of the performance, I have very little to reproach the boys about. This is the football we want to play; we created a lot and were aggressive. Maybe we should have been more clinical in front of goal, but Ospina performed miracles.

"Their goal was disappointing because it was a careless situation that we could have avoided. But I'm satisfied because we're on the right path, we controlled the game against a strong Napoli team.

"My glass is half-full. We created numerous opportunities and had 18 efforts at goal. Ospina was the best player on the pitch.

"Obviously, we can improve, and we need to be more ruthless in the future, but I don't have anything to complain about in terms of desire and determination.

"We did what we'd worked on in training. It's disappointing for the lads not to qualify for the final because, based on what we did over the 180 minutes, we deserved to do so."

Inter now focus on a resumption of the Serie A season. Their first league fixture back is at home to Sampdoria next Sunday.