Inter coach Conte rages at 'insane' fixture list
Inter coach Antonio Conte feels the Serie A schedule, which has been crammed to finish 12 rounds of matches by August 2, is "designed to cause trouble" for his side.
Published : Jul 20, 2020 09:50 IST
Inter Milan coach Antonio Conte lambasted an “insane” Serie A fixture list after his side's 2-2 draw at AS Roma on Sunday, saying it had been designed to make life difficult for his side.
Conte was unhappy that second-placed Inter hosted Torino last Monday before visiting SPAL on Thursday and then played Roma on Sunday. Roma, meanwhile, played its previous game on Wednesday, giving it an extra day to recover.
“Our calendar is insane,” said Conte. “It's a calendar designed to cause trouble for Inter... there's a strange anomaly.”
Following a three-month stoppage caused by the coronavirus, Serie A has been forced to cram the final 12 rounds of matches into six weeks to complete the season by August 2.
But each set of games is staggered over two to three days, meaning teams play at uneven intervals.
Table-topper Juventus will have a four-day rest between its match at Sassuolo on Wednesday and Monday's game with Lazio.
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“You can see we weren't there when they drew up the fixture list,” said Conte. “There are other situations where teams have five days off. This is the third game in a row we have played against a team who have had one day off more than us,” he added,
He was also unhappy that Inter's last three matches have been 21:45 kickoffs local time. “We are training at 29 degrees Celsius; we return after the games at four o'clock in the morning. It's always Inter that gets the short straw. It's strange.”