Conte: 'Game seemed cursed'

Antonio Conte admits he felt relieved after Juventus beat Pescara 2-1 despite goalkeeping heroics and reveals Sebastian Giovinco is out against Bayern Munich.

Ivan Pelizzoli performed numerous saves until Mirko Vucinic broke through with a late brace.

“It had seemed to be a cursed game,” said Conte. “We were shooting from all angles, getting the goalkeeper or the woodwork. Pelizzoli had a fantastic game.

“Pescara also scored an incredible goal with Emmanuel Cascione, as perhaps we should’ve been a bit calmer after that. We were a little nervous that we’d ruin it all the same way we did against Sampdoria.

“This was not an easy victory, but I am happy with the performance and relieved because these are three fundamental points.”

The Coach seemed irritated with Vucinic after he celebrated the goal by whipping off his shorts to wave them around over his head – earning a yellow card.

“I told Vucinic he had a terrible game and still scored two goals… Imagine what he would’ve done if he had played well! It’s important that he scored today and that bodes well for the Bayern match, even if I’m thinking of benching him!”

Juventus lost the first leg of that Champions League quarter-final 2-0 and welcome Bayern to Turin on Wednesday evening.

Today the Germans beat Eintracht Frankfurt to secure the Bundesliga title with a 20-point advantage.

“If we want to catch them up, then we need to impose an intense rhythm and go at them from the start,” continued Conte.

“That means running a few risks. You risk finding Arjen Robben or Franck Ribery in a one-on-one situation. Robben’s introduction really hurt us, as Toni Kroos was a more defensive option.

“We’d love to play 4-3-3, but Simone Pepe is injured and he’s the only one who can play wide in that trident. We’ve also got Stephan Lichtsteiner suspended, so who is going to play at full-back – me?”

The Coach confirmed Giovinco will not be able to play against Bayern, as he was stretchered off today with a knee injury.

“There is talk of a strained collateral ligament. He won’t recover in time for Wednesday, that’s impossible.”