Conte wary of Roma following Celtic clash

The Serie A leaders were successful in the first leg of their Champions League tie with Celtic after goals from Alessandro Matri, Claudio Marchisio and Mirko Vucinic all but put the Italian side through to the next stage.

However boss Conte is not resting on his laurels and has hit his side with words of caution as they approach Saturday's game with Roma.

Fatigue is the least of Conte's worries though as the wisely Italian coach is preparing his side for a Roma backlash after the Giallorossi have failed to win in six games and slumped to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Sampdoria last week.

Conte told juventus.com: "It's never easy against Roma. The difficulty level of the match will be much higher even if some people are saying that the Giallorossi are struggling at the moment.

"They have a quality set-up and, at the beginning of the season, they had lofty ambitions.

"Some poor results saw (Zdenek) Zeman lose his job and (Aurelio) Andreazzoli take his place and I wish them both luck, but the quality of their players has not changed.

"The extra motivation that playing Juve brings means this is a very important game for them."

Former Chelsea man Nicolas Anelka is expected to play a bigger part against Roma than he did against Celtic, whilst defender Federico Peluso and Claudio Marchisio are suspended for the game.

image: © bianconero

Ben Crump

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Founder of Inside Spanish Football and Freelance European Football Writer, previously worked for Goal.com, Forza Italian Football, Shoot Magazine. Youth Football Coach and dedicated husband and father!