23 December 2018
Juventus have not conceded a single league goal since 27 October, when Francesco Caputo scored in the 28th minute of Empoli v Juve, a match the Bianconeri battled back to win thanks to a Cristiano brace.
Wojciech Szczesny has an open streak of six Serie A clean sheets (AC Milan, SPAL, Fiorentina, Inter, Torino and Roma – all games the Bianconeri also won), during one of the toughest periods in the season for Juventus, particularly when you consider the gruelling European schedule.
Speaking to Sky Sport Italia, Szczesny has reflected on the Bianconeri’s stunning form.
"We’ve done a great job in defence in recent weeks," he said. "We’ve only conceded two chances recently – one against Inter and the penalty against AC Milan. That shows that the team has great balance and is nice and tight, which is vital right now."
Szczesny also looked back on Saturday’s 1-0 win over Roma.
"It’s never easy to win, especially against Roma, who have quality players and were able to cause us a few problems in the second half," he said. "That said, we stayed organised and compact and didn’t concede any chances."
The Polish keeper was keen to point out that the Bianconeri’s stunning form is not just down to the players at the back, but the team as a whole.
"Cristiano’s arrival has helped us to understand that if we do our job at the back, we’ll create something in attack and win matches, even if it’s just 1-0, which is the perfect result in football," he said.
"Mario Mandzukic is scoring lots of goals, especially against our rivals," continued Szczesny. "He doesn’t speak much – he does his talking on the pitch and that’s what counts. Paulo Dybala is doing a great job too. He scored lots of goals at the start of the season last year, but this year he’s making more of a contribution to the team. He’s a more complete, mature player who accepts that he has to defend too – you could see that against Roma."
Szczesny is now focused on extending his run of clean sheets away at Atalanta on Boxing Day.
"It’s always a very tough game at Atalanta," he admitted. "I’m expecting a difficult game. It’s important that we win because there’s a head-to-head in Milan between Napoli and Inter, so if we do our job we can improve our position in the table even further."
