“I already said before the game that we needed to play against strong opposition like Spain and Germany to get the right idea of our ability to play competitively. My players gave their all and now it is time to evaluate,” commented Conte following the match in Munich.

“We didn’t pick ourselves up after the game against Spain. There is a gap we need to close to the big teams. We need more intensity over the 90 minutes if we want to keep up with the best teams. Some of the lads were tired from Thursday. We will keep working hard and see what happens. I will also evaluate the players based on their performances in the league. The fact that Bonucci got injured had an impact on the substitutions I had intended to make.”

Montolivo struggled to take any positives from the game: “We were expecting a different performance, and a different result. We didn’t react well following the Spain match and now we need to make sure it’s not blown out of proportion. We need balance, we have just played against the best team in the world. There is a gap and we need to work hard in order to close it.”

“We made big errors, and at this level you inevitably end up paying the price. I had a chance to give the team a foothold in the game when it was still 2-0. At the end of the day we have to improve in many aspects. We didn’t play as well as we did against Spain. Now we have to carry on believing in our coach and what he expects of us.”

Source:   figc.it