01 November 1897
If the last three months have seen Juventus catapult themselves into the thick of the title race, a look at the fixture list sees February stand out as a period which could have a significant impact on who will be celebrating Scudetto success in May.
In between home encounters to high-flying Napoli and Inter, there is also the small matter of Bayern Munich’s trip to Turin in the Champions League on 23 February.
Speaking to the Sky cameras on Monday afternoon, Stefano Sturaro had few doubts as to the importance of the next four weeks, in which his team will play a total of six times.
“We’re coming up against two of our title rivals and Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Clearly all of these represent key matches for us.
“We must not play within ourselves, as we’re young and have plenty of potential to keep growing. It’s up to us to go out and achieve our goals.”
As things stand, Napoli continue to lead the way on 50 points, two ahead of Juventus, but the gap between the Bianconeri and third-placed Fiorentina has now widened to six points.
Asked whether Juve now only had the Partenopei to beat in their search for a fifth successive Serie A championship, Sturaro was reluctant to dismiss certain members of the chasing pack that also includes Inter and Roma on 41 and 38 points respectively.
“There are four or five sides still in contention for the Scudetto, there’s not a huge points difference between all of us. Therefore, we can’t afford to get too ahead of ourselves, but instead we need to take each game at a time.”
Next up for the Bianconeri is the club where Sturaro began his professional career, with Genoa making the trip to Juventus Stadium on Wednesday evening.
Old allegiances, however, will be left far from the pitch, according to the midfielder who broke into the Rossoblu first team back in August 2013 after rising through their youth ranks.
“I grew up in Genoa, making both my Serie A and international debuts while at the club. Therefore, I’ll always be grateful for how they’ve helped develop me in to the player I am today, but I won’t be thinking about that on Wednesday. Friendship will count for absolutely nothing across the 90 minutes.”
Wrapping up the interview, Sturaro explained how he felt his current team had gone about emerging from a difficult start to the season to a winning streak that was extended to 12 matches with yesterday’s 4-0 thrashing of Chievo.
“We’ve improved in many areas of our game, especially in how we take control of and dictate matches. All of our players have stepped up to the plate. With regards to Morata, it’s no surprise he's back amongst the goals. It was only a question of time. He can be the difference again for us just like last year.”
