22 April 2015
The Champions League semi-finals is the natural habitat for a club like Juve, Patrice Evra declared after playing his part in helping the Bianconeri get there with a hard-fought draw in Monte Carlo.
The veteran full-back was speaking in a post-match interview at the Stade Louis II, his former stomping ground. "We have to live up to Juve's tradition and what this club has achieved in the past," he explained.
"When I joined Juve, the objective was to win a fourth straight Scudetto and have a good run in the Champions League. Getting through the group stage was something normal to me.
"Now we've come this far and we should thank all the coaching staff. I'll try to put my experience at the team's service so we can keep going."
Juve's return to the summit of Europe shows that Italian football is not as bad off as some people have portrayed.
"Lots of people have the wrong idea about the level of Italian football," Evra went on. "It's a completely different football philosophy here. You'll go nowhere in Italy if you're not on the ball tactically. It was a shock for me at first but I managed to adapt little but little. Playing in Italy is certainly not easy."
The French defender ended by reassuring fans about the condition of his fellow countryman Paul Pogba, in the stands at the Stade Louis II this evening.
"Paul is ok, he can't wait to come back but there's a recovery period to come through," he said. "You have to be careful after an injury like that. I had the same problem for the first time myself this year and you can't rush back.
"If it were up to him, he'd have been out there tonight. He just needs to trust the medical staff because he should only start playing again when he's 100%."
