Conte hails 'incredible' Quagliarella

The Bianconeri boss credited his side's victory at the Tardini to the forward, while revealing that several key players will be unavailable for Tuesday's clash with Real Madrid

Juventus coach Antonio Conte was effusive in his praise of 'super-sub' Fabio Quagliarella following the striker's performance in Saturday's 1-0 win at Parma.

The former Napoli forward, who has not been assured a first-team place at the Bianconeri this season, made a big impact after coming off the bench at the Tardini, as it was his effort that struck the crossbar and then fell invitingly for Paul Pogba to slot home the winner.

In a game of few chances, Conte lauded his team for their clinical edge, crediting them for retaining their focus in keeping pace at the top of Serie A.

"We always want to see shots like that from Quagliarella," the Bianconeri boss told reporters after the match. "It was an incredible strike, the kind he can do - even if sometimes he tries too much.

"Paul also did very well to follow it up and keep his finish down, which was not easy. I saw the right mentality. We rotated the squad and this also gives us an advantage in the long run.

"On Tuesday, we play against Real Madrid, but the lads did well to keep their concentration."

Quagliarella's prospects of netting a starting berth against Carlo Ancelotti's men in the upcoming Champions League Group B clash have not only been boosted by his key contribution against Parma, but also the news that Mirko Vucinic has been ruled out of the Turin tie.

"Mirko and Stephan Lichtsteiner cannot recover in time for Tuesday," Conte revealed. "They haven’t trained with the rest of the side yet and to be honest I don’t know if they’ll be back for Napoli [next weekend] either. 

"[Claudio] Marchisio played well at a high intensity for 60 minutes. He has been a regular this season, so I opted to give him a slight rest in the second half. 

"I'm convinced he'll soon be back to the old Marchisio."

Despite their fine domestic form, the Italian champions are still looking for their first win in Europe, and failure to do so on Tuesday would leave them on the brink of an early exit.