Conte targets Scudetto feat

Antonio Conte believes that if Juventus win the Serie A this season it will be comparable to Hellas Verona’s title success in the 1984/85 campaign.

The unfashionable Verona outfit defied the odds to be crowned champions of Italy ahead of Torino and Inter 27 years ago.

With Juve on the verge of their first league title since 2003, Conte has spoken out about what he feels could be an incredible achievement.

“Look, we are thinking in the present, their help has given us the opportunity to do something incredible this year, something that was unthinkable earlier this season,” Conte told reporters ahead of his side’s Serie A clash with Lecce on Wednesday.

“And if we win, I think this is comparable to the league championship of Hellas Verona, lest we forget where we have come from. So we are thinking about this, let’s concentrate on doing something extraordinary in the league.

“We are building on what we’ve already built that is important, but let’s not lose sight of the goal, because it has not yet been achieved.”

Victory against Lecce combined with a home defeat for AC Milan against Atalanta midweek would see Juve win the league.

But Conte is refusing to underestimate his hometown club.

“We can’t say Lecce are the final hurdle, because as the previous two games have taught us, we have found teams with the greatest motivation to get a result, as it should be,” he said.

“So we will encounter Lecce who like us have an important goal. We strive for something beautiful, magical, while they are after survival. It will be a nice challenge between two teams that still have the greatest motivation.

“We absolutely have to think about us only, though, as I always say, partly because we have nothing in our hands at the moment, except for Champions League qualification and the Coppa Italia final.

“We are looking before we speak, I was taught that you must win before you talk.”