Conte delighted with Supercoppa win

Posted Tuesday, August 20, 2013 by Foxsports.com

Juventus head coach Antonio Conte could barely contain his delight after the Bianconeri fired an early warning shot with a resounding Supercoppa victory over Lazio.

The reigning Serie A champions did not hesitate in surging to a 4-0 win in Lazio's own Stadio Olimpico, with Paul Pogba, Giorgio Chiellini and Stephan Lichtsteiner building a matchwinning lead before Carlos Tevez scored his first competitive goal for the club.

Such a dominant win over the Coppa Italia holders followed a largely disappointing pre-season campaign, but Conte now feels his side are in great shape ahead of Saturday night's league opener at Sampdoria.

He told juventus.com: "It was a one-off encounter and these are the games in which history is made. I know my lads and I knew we'd face the clash with the right attitude.

"We prepared extremely well, losing just once against Los Angeles Galaxy, given that the other games in America went to penalties.

"Now we still need to shake off the workload, but we were deserved winners [on Sunday] evening and I'm very happy."

Juve president Andrea Agnelli also believes the triumph puts his team "on the right foot" as they bid to retain the Scudetto for a second time.

"It's a comprehensive scoreline and getting off on the right foot was important," he said. "It's a result that pleases us, because we know it will be a difficult year.

"In over 100 years of history, and in 90 years of association with my family, just one Juventus side has won three consecutive Scudetto titles - and that came back in the 1930s.

"It will therefore be important to remind everyone on a daily basis that we must give 100 per cent and also a little bit extra in order to keep winning."

France midfielder Pogba got the ball rolling on 23 minutes with a left-footed strike on the turn but it was a three-goal raid in three second-half minutes that left Lazio reeling.

Lichtsteiner squared for Chiellini to clip home in the 54th minute and the Swiss promptly turned goalscorer when connecting with a Mirko Vucinic cross.

Juve had their tails up and there was no stopping Tevez - a summer signing from Manchester City - finishing into the bottom corner to complete the rout.

Lazio boss Vladimir Petkovic told La Repubblica: "We gave up after the second goal and I'm sorry for the fans. I apologise but now we must turn the page and start writing a new story.

"We were a bit naive from the restart [at 2-0] and our heads dropped. There was a complete black-out and then came two more goals."