Conte thrilled to inch closer to Serie A crown

Antonio Conte said Juventus were ‘another brick closer to the finish line’ after their 2-0 victory over Lazio in the Serie A on Monday night.

The win comes on the back of the club’s elimination from the Champions League at the hands of Bayern Munich and moves them 11 points clear at the top of the table.

Conte is hopeful the three points – which came thanks to Arturo Vidal’s double – will rid the club of their European hangover.

“We moved into the top eight in Europe. In Italy we have been in first place for a long time and now we won tonight,” he said.

“There is nothing to be disappointed about. There are seven points (left to secure) victory, so I don’t speak of that. We have to keep pedalling.

“We’ve got three very important points, another brick closer to the finish line. We have every right to be happy, not depressed.”

Juventus adopted a more cautious formation for the trip to the Stadio Olimpico, with Mirko Vucinic operating as a lone striker and Claudio Marchisio pushing forward in support and Conte felt the pair complemented one another perfectly.

“It does not matter how many strikers you play with, but the build-up to the manoeuvre, and how many players contribute to the chances,” he added.

“I knew I could use Marchisio as the attacking midfielder. He and Vucinic are beautiful together, so I knew it would be fine.

“Marchisio had an extraordinary game. He was a good help in the passive phase and also at the points when we pushed forward.”

Meanwhile, opposite number Vladimir Petkovic says Juventus deserved their win – but felt both goals were avoidable.

Petkovic, who went into the game boasting the superior head-to-head record against Conte this season, cited exhaustion as a possible reason for the defeat but did not detract from the performance of the champions-elect.

“We dominated them in the first few minutes. After this, we gave Juventus opportunities and they were clinical with the two chances we gave them. I think the two goals were avoidable,” he told Sky Sport Italia.

“In the end, kudos to Juventus because they deserved the victory. Surely we have seen the team are a little tired having played five times in a few weeks.

“Today we were without seven players. I hope they can recover as soon as possible for all of them to be available to finish the season strong.”