Conte relishing Barca showdown after Inter win in Prague

Inter head coach Antonio Conte believes a capacity San Siro crowd can roar his side into the Champions League knockout phase after a thrilling late win over Slavia Prague.

Conte’s men clinched a 3-1 win over Slavia on Wednesday to move up to second in Group F, ahead of third-placed Borussia Dortmund on head-to-head record.

Two goals from Lautaro Martinez and one from Romelu Lukaku secured the points for Inter, although they had to wait until late the final nine minutes of the game to seal the win.

Inter know victory over Barcelona – who have already qualified as group winners – in their final fixture on December 10, on home turf, will book their place in the last 16.

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Conte told Sky Sport Italia: “The only way to stay alive and give a sense to the final fixture with Barcelona was to win and we did it. 

“We’re pleased, as we wanted to be alive and kicking to the final game and that’s the situation. Our fate is in our hands.

“Now it’s going to be a tough match, but we can count on 70,000 people who will push us on at San Siro. We were much more of a team against Slavia.”

Conte felt the blossoming strike partnership between Martinez and Lukaku was instrumental in the victory but believes the pair have not yet shown their full potential.

He added: “The strikers were decisive and I am very happy for them. They fought it out physically with the Slavia players, which they had struggled to do last time.

“We are talking about two players who are not yet complete. Lukaku has a lot of potential, he still needs to be encouraged. Lautaro is only 22 years old. 

“But after four months we see the difference. Players in general are stronger, they are growing clearly.”

This strike partnership…

 GALS#ForzaInter #SlaviaPragueInter pic.twitter.com/7eRkVMXm3v

— Inter (@Inter_en) November 27, 2019

Martinez’s brace took his tally to five goals in this season’s Champions League as he scored for the fourth game in succession, while Lukaku’s strike was his first in the competition for Inter.

Although he is leading the European goalscoring charts Martinez says neither he nor Lukaku are concerned with individual totals.

“I always say it doesn’t matter who scores, as long as the team gets the goal and wins,” he said.

“We work every day to help create that unity off the field and on it. Romelu is a great guy and we really get along, we both care more about the team than our own goals.

“We made a lot of progress since the Borussia Dortmund game, where we dominated the first half and fell away. 

“We’re proving that we can have our say in this Champions League and believe we can reach the Round of 16.”