Conte: Juventus deserved to reach Coppa Italia final

Jan 30, 2013 12:15:00 PM

The former Siena coach believes that his team did enough to make it to the showpiece in Rome, while praising versatile midfielder Luca Marrone

Antonio Conte has voiced his disappointment with Juventus' Coppa Italia semi-final elimination at the hands of Lazio as he feels the Bianconeri deserved to make it to the final.

The Serie A champions were beaten 2-1 at the Stadio Olimpico on Tuesday, after they were previously held to a 1-1 draw at home last week, yet the Bianconeri boss believes they did enough to come out victorious over 180 minutes.

"We certainly deserved better over the 180 minutes, but Lazio went through and congratulations to them," he said at the press conference.

"The last chance had a decisive bearing, because we would have qualified had it gone differently. The lads played an excellent game, but that’s football and we can only take note of it."

Conte then went on to say that Luca Marrone has a bright future ahead of him, while stressing that he is happy with his team's efforts.

"Marrone? I envisage a great future for him in the centre of defence, but he also did well in midfield.

"I’m happy with how my players expressed themselves. We know exactly where we’ve been lacking in this recent period."

Juventus will be looking to return to winning ways when they travel to Verona to face Chievo on Sunday.