Juventus coach Antonio Conte has hailed his side’s display in the 2-1 Coppa Italia victory at AC Milan on Wednesday.
A second-half Martin Caceres brace either side of a Stephan El Shaarawy goal gave a much-changed Juve side an important lead in the semi-final tie.
Conte introduced several new faces into his line-up for Wednesday’s match, including goalscorer Caceres, who has returned to Turin on loan from Sevilla.
“I am pleased with the response from every player who stepped on to the pitch in a match as important as this one,” Conte told RAI Sport.
“The team gave a good response to what I had asked from them. Besides the result, the introduction of new players was also important, and they played well.”
Caceres was the man of the match on his return to Juventus, but Conte noted that the Uruguayan defender still has a lot to improve.
“Caceres needs to do better in terms of defensive actions, but when it comes to his attacking movement I have nothing to complain about,” Conte said.
Despite Juventus’ lead for the return leg on March 21, Conte insists that his side have not yet secured a place in the final.
“The tie is still open because Milan are a good side who still have something to say,” he said.
“We are anticipating a very hard second-leg to get a place in the final.”
