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“Losing is like a temporary death of two days. I have trouble talking ».

He recognized it in his autobiography. Elisabetta , his wife, knows that Antonio Conte (Lecce, 1969) reveals at night because of that moment of inspiration that should be noted in a notebook. And also his soccer players know it, always separated between those who adore him and those who hate him, but also united in conviction: rarely will they see his coach happy. He is guided by the obsession for details, for perfection, for complying with those three pillars that he claims without rest. «Head, heart and legs» .

Andrea Pirlo , the great Italian regista , one of those soccer players who approach their sport to art, ran into Conte at Juventus in 2011. From then on, there is no day when he does not remember that he is the best coach he ever had in his career. Not caring that in some workouts I was nauseous at exercises that had to be done again and again. The same movements. As an assembly line in which the error was not allowed. Until the ruling reached the border of chance. Repetition was the straight path to perfection. Or even recognizing what he used to live in the locker room during game breaks, as he admitted in his book Penso quindi gioco . “The most dangerous point in all of Turin was the changing room of our stadium, right in front of the door, which was where I sat. Even when we won, Conte threw everything he was against the wall. Almost always bottles full of water. He became a beast. I was never happy ».

Conte always swung between legends and realities, between what they talked about him and what he opposed with his titles. When a year ago Real Madrid decided to dispense with Julen Lopetegui, the white wardrobe, by Sergio Ramos, did not hesitate to stop after noticing that he had contacted Conte as a substitute after the end of the Italian cold war with Roman Abramovich in Chelsea «Respect is earned, not imposed. There are the coaches we have won with. Costume management is more important than the knowledge of a technician ». It was never easy to transfer privileges, something that Barcelona's costumes have been fighting for, happy with Valverde.

Complaints of the 'tifosi'

Antonio Conte signed this summer with Inter. The Tifosi of the Nerazzurri club did not find it too funny that a symbol and former Juventus captain (European champion in 1996 as a footballer, eight Serie A titles, five on the grass, three as a bench foreman) arrived at Giuseppe Meazza to redefine a club always tormented. Before it had also been done by the successful sports director of Vecchia Signora , Beppe Marotta. "The goal is to make Inter one of the best clubs in the world," replied Steven Zhang, president and son of Zhang Jindong, majority shareholder of the entity. «The Nord Curve cannot forget its past in Juventus and its judicial past. For us, winning is not the only thing that counts, ”the radicals claimed. The Italian National Court of Sports Arbitration, in October 2012, reduced Conte's disqualification from 10 to four months due to its involvement in a case of betting and match damage during his time as coach of Siena, in the 2010-2011 season. Conte always denied being aware of the fraud, despite the accusation made by one of his players, Filippo Carobbio.

The fact is that in Milan they did not remember that Conte was always meant to provide immediate results . With Bari, in 2008, he increased the score by 25 points at the end of the first season. With Siena (2010) the increase was 31 points. With Juventus (2011), of 26. He took her to Scudetto after taking her as seventh ranked. And with Chelsea (2016), a team he reached after finishing the tenth blues in the season in which Mourinho was fired and Hiddink recruited as a firefighter, Conte increased his score by 43 points. He made Chelsea champion.

At the level of Helenio Herrera

Conte has won with Inter its first six Serie A games. Only Helenio Herrera, in the 1966-1967 season, was able to link such a streak throughout the history of the Lombard club . Conte is building a team in its image and likeness, after getting rid of Icardi and Perisic , offering gallons to a brain like Sensi , and recruiting its final point, Lukaku .

In contrast, his records as a coach in the Champions League have always been questioned, beyond his tie at home against Slavia on the first day. With Juventus, in 2013 he reached the quarterfinals, but in 2014 he could not even pass the group stage. And with Chelsea, who pushed him away from the competition in the round of 16 was precisely his next opponent. Barcelona started a draw at Stamford Bridge (1-1) to finish scoring later at Camp Nou after another Messi masterpiece. Conte left the stadium embracing the Argentine .

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  • Julen Lopetegui
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