We were penalised by VAR: Conte moans after Inter’s UCL failure

Inter Milan manager Antonio Conte has insinuated that poor officiating played a big part in his side’s elimination from the UEFA Champions League. 

The 2010 champions were knocked out of European competition on Wednesday night after a 0-0 home draw with Shakhtar Donetsk left them bottom of their group. 

Inter Milan would have been sent down to the Europa League if they had finished third, but Shakhtar took that spot, while Real Madrid won the group and Borussia Monchengladbach finished second. 

When he was asked if Inter were lacking in determination against Shakhtar Donetsk, Conte insisted that was not the case.

 “I don’t agree with this assessment,” the former Chelsea coach said during his post-match interview.

“The team did everything they needed to. It’s incredible that we haven’t managed to score at least one goal over 180 minutes after dominating Shakhtar. 

 “It’s not a case of the lads lacking determination, they gave everything that they had. We had chances, they did well and also had fortune. Their goalkeeper was the best player on the pitch. 

“These are things that must be considered with a cool head, not at the end of a match.

“There’s a lot of regret, but I don’t feel like saying there was a lack of determination, focus or aggression. A goal was lacking, and unfortunately if you don’t score you don’t win. We haven’t had much luck in the Champions League given certain incidents and refereeing decisions. Now that the group stage is over, I think I can say that we were also penalised by VAR, with many incidents that went unanalysed.” 

Conte, who has always come short in Europe even with Juventus among his former clubs, also claimed a lack of player options hampered his side. “We didn’t have a huge amount of options,” he moaned.

“Perisic was brought on as a winger after an hour and Sanchez replaced Gagliardini with more than 20 minutes to play. 

 “We became a bit unbalanced. Eriksen then came on when Lautaro’s energy levels dropped. We must not forget that Shakhtar changed their way of playing to face us in the group after conceding five in the Europa League. This now happens against every team we face.” 

Inter Milan also failed to reach the knockout rounds of the Champions League last season, dropping down to the Europa League and reaching the final.