Udinese forward Fernando Llorente said he expected Inter coach Antonio Conte to ‘end the domination of my Juventus’.
The former Juventus striker was part of an attack with Carlos Tevez at the Allianz Stadium and helped the Old Lady score 102 points in Serie A.
To reach that amount, reports in Italy suggested Juventus snubbed the Europa League, but Llorente claims they wanted to go all the way in the cup.
Udinese forward Fernando Llorente said he expected Inter coach Antonio Conte to ‘end the domination of my Juventus’.
The former Juventus striker was part of an attack with Carlos Tevez at the Allianz Stadium and helped the Old Lady score 102 points in Serie A.
To reach that amount, reports in Italy suggested Juventus snubbed the Europa League, but Llorente claims they wanted to go all the way in the cup.
“We also tried to win the cup, but we were unlucky against Benfica,” Llorente told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “We didn’t give up the Europa League, I assure you.
“On the contrary, we were very sorry for missing out on the Final in our stadium.
“But the 102 points remain an incredible achievement that demonstrates the mentality of that team and of Antonio.”
Because the current Inter coach kickstarted the Bianconeri and a winning run he seems set to stop this year.
Llorente admitted Conte was ‘fundamental’ for his own career and is not surprised Inter are doing well with his former boss at the helm.
“Antonio was fundamental for me. As soon as I arrived at Juve, I thought I was in a good condition. We started working hard and went down, down, down. I wasn’t used to those workloads. I also thought Antonio was crazy,” Llorente said and laughed.
“I was struggling to recover, but then he organised a series of friendlies with Serie D and non-League teams to help me settle in.
“He trusted me and soon the goals arrived. Conte has a crazy mentality, he gets in your head, he transmits conviction of self-esteem.
“He’s a coach who makes you win.”
Llorente admitted he believed Inter would win the Scudetto in a short while when Conte arrived at San Siro.
“[I thought] he would soon end the domination of my Juve,” he said. “Antonio won in his first year in Turin, his first year at Chelsea and he will win in his second year at Inter.
“He’s capable of any feat. There are no traps. Inter are very strong and knowing Antonio, the Scudetto is now a closed case.”
Llorente also spoke about his current teammate Rodrigo de Paul, who has been linked with a move to one of the giants.
“He’s very ready,” Llorente continued. “He’s a great played. Complete, technical, with the right mentality.”