Antonio previews United, and takes a little trip down memory lane...

Within an hour of Monday night’s fine 5-0 win against Everton, Antonio Conte was looking ahead to a huge game at Old Trafford on Saturday (5.30pm).

Indeed, Antonio referenced United in his first answer post-match on N17 Live. “Tonight, we played a good game but now, for me, it will be very important what happens on Saturday, because we play against Manchester United,” he said. “The game tonight is the past, and it will also be the past for my players. We have to enjoy, because it’s right to enjoy, but at the same time, from tomorrow, we have to start to think about an important game against United, against a team we are fighting for a place in the Champions League.”

Eric Dier and Matt Doherty followed suit, and it’s that mentality Antonio is looking for in our final 12 matches of the Premier League campaign.

“I want us to show this type of mentality, to think about the next game,” he told us on Thursday. “As I said, we played a really good game against Everton, got the three points, but the most important game for us is the game against United. We don’t forget that we lost 3-0 at home (in October) and, for sure, we are talking about a really important squad. At the same time, we have improved, and we are improving through our work every day.

“It was a good result against Everton, then we’ve had good training sessions to prepare for the game against Manchester United, a big game. We are ready to play.”

All parties expect a response after United lost the Manchester derby 4-1 at City on Sunday. “You know very well the importance of this type of game,” said Antonio. “When you lose a game against a competitor like Manchester City, for sure, you are angry, and you want a good reaction in the next game.

“At the same time, we have to give continuity and think about ourselves, not the others. We need to play a good game in a fantastic stadium, an amazing atmosphere. We want to show our promise.”

Watch - Antonio's presser

Looking back at ‘99

United famously won the treble of Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League in 1999 – but it might have been so different, with Antonio and Juventus in position to change the course of history.

Antonio led Juve into the semi-final clash against Sir Alex Ferguson’s all-conquering team. What a spectacle, with the likes of Antonio, Edgar Davids, Zinedine Zidane and Filippo Inzaghi up against Roy Keane, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, David Beckham, Dwight Yorke and Andrew Cole.

Antonio fired Juve in front after 25 minutes of the first leg at Old Trafford, only for Ryan Giggs to level in the second minute of added time. Inzaghi then scored twice inside 15 minutes of the second leg at Stadio delle Alpi to put the Italian champions 3-1 up overall. Incredibly, United fought back to 3-3 through Keane and Yorke before Cole won it in the 84th minute.

United went on to lift the trophy in even more dramatic circumstances as, trailing 1-0 against Bayern Munich going into added time, having been outplayed by the Germans, goals from Teddy Sheringham (90+1) and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (90+3) won it for the Reds.

Ahead of his latest trip to Old Trafford, we asked Antonio for his memories of that semi-final – now 23 years ago!

“I remember it well... I scored a goal, then United drew in the last minute with Ryan Giggs,” he reflected. “Then, in the second leg, we were winning 2-0 and we lost 3-2. I remember very well that season that United won the Champions League, the final was against Bayern Munich, they were losing 1-0 with one minute to go and then they scored twice and won the Champions League. I think that was the best period for United, they started to win an important competition like the Champions League to become one of the biggest teams in the world. Now, I’m really focussed on my new job, I’m a coach, but, for sure, this loss is part of my career. I remember it very well because instead of going to the Champions League Final, we lost against United, and then United won the Champions League.”