27 November 2018
The Bianconeri players were rightly satisfied after the Champions League encounter, as the victory guarantees their passage to the last 16 of the tournament. Here is what some of the boys had to say following the win.
Giorgio Chiellini
Giorgio Chiellini was proud of the team after Juve qualified for the Champions League knockout stages with a game to spare following Tuesday's 1-0 victory over Valencia. “We've achieved our first target for the season,” the 34-year-old began. “We knew it would be a difficult game because Valencia are dangerous in open space. “We could have done better in the first half and we got a bit carried away. We played well in the second half and in the end it was a deserved win.” The captain, whose appearance against Valencia was his 68th in the Champions League, putting him level with Gianluca Pessotto in fourth place in the club's all-time standings, went on to laud the efforts of the team and the forwards especially. “You can see how united we are and everyone puts in a shift, including the forwards. All three of them – [Cristiano] Ronaldo, [Mario] Mandzukic and [Paulo] Dybala, who's the smallest of the three – really put themselves about today. If we scrap like that, with the skill we have in the side, it makes everything much easier.” Attentions now turn back to Serie A: “We have to turn the page now – we'll start thinking about the Champions League again in February. We must focus on Serie A because we have a tough month ahead.”
LEONARDO BONUCCI
“One of the things we’re very good at is being clinical and we showed that tonight. They kept us at bay in the first half but in the second half we managed to create chances and danger, and from that the goal came. “When we keep possession well, we can be dangerous. We can enjoy the fact we’ve advanced and look to get first spot when we go to Bern. [Wojciech] Szczesny made a great save – he’s a very good goalkeeper and we was on hand the only time we gave the opponents a chance.”
WOJCIECH SZCZĘSNY
The keeper’s extraordinary save at the end of the first half was a crucial intervention, preventing a goal that would have been very much against the run of play. While Cristiano Ronaldo created the winning goal and Mario Mandzukic scored it, our man between the sticks made as decisive a contribution as anyone. “I am just one of 11 players. In the last Champions League match, I cost the team points and today I made up for that. It was a close-range header and it was a nice save, at an important moment,” the goalkeeper said. “Today we managed the game well after going ahead, better than we did against United, when we rode our luck more. We need to go and win in Bern, to make sure we top the group, because I believe Manchester United will beat Valencia.”
