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Marchisio previews Fiorentina fixture

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Marchisio previews Fiorentina fixture
Marchisio previews Fiorentina fixture
Marchisio previews Fiorentina fixture

In a busy week of festive activity at Juventus, Claudio Marchisio joined club vice president Pavel Nedved, David Trezeguet, Gianluca Pessotto and Alessandro Birindelli in attending a charity dinner organised by the “Cuori Bianconeri” foundation in support of the “Growing together with Sant’Anna” initiative this evening.

The project, now into its twelfth year of collaboration with Juventus, works towards raising funds for the restructuring of the Sant’Anna Hospital Neonatal Department in order to ensure that the children benefit from the latest, cutting edge equipment and the very highest level of medical care.

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Tonight’s event also presented journalists with the opportunity to quiz Marchisio on a number of topics ranging from Sunday’s match at home to second-placed Fiorentina, the Bianconeri’s current form and that of certain team-mates, as well as the upcoming Champions League draw.

The Italy international began: “The match on Sunday is very important. It’s an opportunity to change things up at the top of the table, as there are a few big clubs playing one another and we need to be able to take advantage of the situation.

“Fiorentina are an excellent side and they deserve to be where they are at this moment in time. We’ll need to be on our toes, even if we’re playing at home.

“We’ve shown considerable consistency of late with the five league wins in a row, but we know that there remains plenty of work to be done.”

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Asked about the form of certain team-mates, the 29-year-old claimed that he was not in any way worried about the fact that the Bianconeri were scoring fewer goals from midfield this term, while insisting that it was only a matter of time before Paul Pogba and Alvaro Morata returned to the levels of last season.

For Marchisio, the most important thing remains the development of the side as a whole, as opposed to scrutinising individual performances.

“There are times when the goals come more easily. For players like Pogba and Morata, it’s normal that the expectations are high as they both have enormous talent. They’re training hard every day and are always there for the group. They’ll be finding the net again sooner rather than later.

“What’s important is that the team continues to grow both domestically and in Europe, where we’ve already achieved the objective of qualifying for the Champions League round of 16.”

Wrapping up the interview, Marchisio admitted that the knockout stages would present a considerable challenge regardless of who Massimiliano Allegri’s men are pitted against next Monday in Nyon.

“They’re all top sides at this stage of the competition, but we’ve already had some tough tests in the group. We know that whichever team we face will be strong and difficult to play against."

He concluded: “We’ll have plenty of time to discuss the draw as of next Monday. Right now, however, we’re focused on the present and our preparations for Fiorentina.”

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