No problem with Juventus for not releasing Bonucci: Italy coach Conte

Italy coach Antonio Conte has said he has "no problems" with champion club Juventus, despite them not releasing defender Leonardo Bonucci.

Conte named a training squad this week, but omitted players from AC Milan and Juventus as they contest the Coppa Italia final on Saturday.

Bonucci is suspended for the final match. He so was named in the Italy squad. But Juventus didn't release the defender for the national squadas they were under no obligation to release him.

He instead trained with the Juventus squad in Turin.

"No-one made a mistake, I called him up because he was suspended," Conte said, according to the Italian football team's official Twitter account on Wednesday.

"I have a good relationship with Juventus. They had the right to stop Bonucci from attending this training camp."

"Juventus' defence is proven. We want to build on that by integrating talented young players into the squad."

Conte was concerned about the injuries to key midfielders Marco Verratti and Claudio Marchisio.

"Verratti and Marchisio's injuries are obviously a big blow for Italy, however we have to accept them and carry on," he added.

"We've been monitoring all the players in the squad intensively, but we still have a couple of decisions left to make."

The former Juventus coach said that after a long and exhausting Serie A season the fitness of his players will be crucial for their Euro 2016 fortunes.

"I need a tight-knit squad at Euro 2016. The players' fitness will be decisive. Despite having had two difficult years, we have been undefeated in the qualifiers. We deserve to be at Euro."

--IANS

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