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Having won the Italian championship two years in a row, the strategist remains diplomatic.
Turin's Juventus coach Antonio Conte does not consider his team a favorite to win the Italian Super Cup final, where they will have to face Rome's Lazio team.
The match, taking place this Sunday at the "Olimpico" stadium in the Italian capital, will mark the beginning of the new season before the start of Serie A.
During a press conference held the day before the match, A. Conte happily answered questions from journalists.
"I don't think we can pick favorites. What I hope for the most is that the team that rightfully wins will not be labeled as 'lucky.' I have great respect for the Lazio team and their coach, so it would be unethical to single anyone out," said the strategist.
"Am I already coaching 'my' Juve? We would have a big problem if it wasn't 'my' Juve, considering I have been working here for three years. We are returning to the field after a month of preparation for the season, so I have complete confidence in my guys. I will never forget that we won the Italian championship in my first year of work."
Juventus' preparation for the season was marked by failure in the Guinness Champions Trophy held in the United States, where the Italians finished last and lost all three matches.
"We have three days to prepare for the Super Cup, and I am far from pleased. The break for the national teams did not help the situation either, but Vladimir Petković (Lazio head coach) faced the same problems, so there will be no excuses," continued A. Conte.
"We will fight for the trophy, but I wouldn't like it if a Juve victory was considered normal, while Lazio winning was seen as something incredible. Both teams are capable of winning the Super Cup."
"The better I know my players, the more I trust myself. In this case, I am completely relaxed. I have been working with them for three years, so I have no doubt about their professionalism, and I know each one of them well. We will have to play the match at a not-so-great moment for both us and Lazio, so we will be on equal terms."
Lately, there have been speculations in the Italian press that A. Conte is dissatisfied with the performance of striker Fernando Llorente, who joined the Turin team this summer. However, the strategist simply got upset when he heard such comments.
"Blaming one player is simply unforgivable. We play as a team, and that's why we won the Scudetto. It makes me laugh when the press tries to slander Llorente. He arrived three weeks ago, works hard, which is most important to me, and on top of that, he didn't play for almost a year. It is perfectly normal that a player faces difficulties in such circumstances," assured the specialist.
"We know him well and acted wisely by offering him a contract when he became a free agent. Now Llorente is adapting to our system. It wouldn't hurt to show more respect and less insults and attempts to put pressure just to have headlines to write about. The media creates conspiracy theories out of nothing," noted A. Conte.
