Juve underachieved with Capello, says Conte

Antonio Conte has hit out at Fabio Capello, suggesting that Juventus should have achieved much more in the Champions League under his tenure.

The club sit at the top of Serie A and set a new record in December for points accumulated in a calendar year, with 94 gained in 2012 – eclipsing their previous record of 93 set under Capello in 2005.

However, the former England boss appeared somewhat reluctant to congratulate his former side and has suggested Italian football was now significantly weaker than when he was in charge of the club.

“In my time the competition was of a higher level,” Capello was quoted as saying by Corriere dello Sport.

“Opponents of great quality have disappeared.”

Conte reacted by criticising Capello over his record in Europe, suggesting that he should have brought more success to the club considering the calibre of players at his disposal.

“I would say that he has really done very little in the Champions League,” the 43-year-old said in reference to the fact that Capello’s side managed only two quarter-final appearances.

“Juve in those two years (2004-2005 and 2005-2006) were stratospheric in terms of quality. In fact, I’d say they were stronger than ever: eight players participated in the 2006 World Cup final, there were two Ballon d’Or winners (Pavel Nedved, who won the award in 2003, and Fabio Cannavaro in 2006) and we had Alessandro Del Piero and Adrian Mutu just on the bench.

“It’s the proof that in addition to great players it takes organisation of the game, it takes a certain mentality to match the stage.”

Juventus go into the second half of the season top of the table with 44 points from their first 18 games.