Matri: 'Conte made me better'

Alessandro Matri has praised Juventus Coach Antonio Conte for making him a better player. “You have to work really hard to apply his ideas.”

The striker is rarely first choice in the line-up and faces stiff competition in Turin, but is more than happy to be in that situation with eight goals in all competition this season.

“The style of football that the Coach adopts has to involve the entire team,” Matri told Mediaset Premium.

“We practice various different ideas during the week and the results are excellent. The organisation is paying off, combined with athletic, technical and tactical work that we do every day.

“You have to work really hard to apply Conte’s ideas, but this helps you to stay in good shape and allows players to improve. Personally I have changed my style of football to settle in better to these ideas and I have grown, both tactically and in terms of character.”

Juventus have a tough time ahead of them when returning from the international break, as they face Inter in Serie A and then Bayern Munich for the Champions League.

“Inter is always a game that means a lot to us. Bayern Munich are well-organised and prepared with great individual talents too.

“We must make the most of our organisation, which has allowed us to get this far. It is fundamental that we don’t immediately focus on the result, but on the idea of going out there to play our football. Admittedly, it’s not easy to stay calm and relaxed in a Champions League quarter-final.”
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Matri