08 December 2014
Claudio Marchisio says the Bianconeri are fully poised to tackle their “most important game of the season” when Atletico Madrid visit Juventus Stadium on Tuesday night.
The midfielder believes the team’s determination to prove their worth in the Champions League will be a crucial factor in helping them achieve the desired result against the runners-up of last year’s competition.
Speaking to the press at Juventus Center, Marchisio began: “It’s our most important game of the season. We want to be amongst Europe’s top teams and have worked hard to achieve that. We’re playing at home, in front of our fans who will provide a lively atmosphere, and are ready for the game.
“It won’t be easy - a 2-0 result will see us top the group - but we’ll need to see how the game develops. Determination and focus will be important.”
Standing between the Serie A champions and a place in the last 16 are Atletico, an outfit Marchisio says he and his team-mates are fully up to speed on following October’s first meeting in the Spanish capital.
And despite slipping to a 1-0 defeat, the 28-year-old believes there were enough positives on show at the Vicente Calderon to give Juventus hope of exacting revenge when hostilities are renewed tomorrow evening.
“We know all about Atletico as opponents, we saw them in the first game and know how strong they are on set pieces. They’ve won four of their five Champions League games, only conceding in the first match against Olympiacos, but we need to try and win.
“Atletico are a compact side and good at sitting back before breaking forward on the counter. However, we showed we could compete with them in the first game. It was a group error that proved our undoing and we know that we can’t allow ourselves to switch off for a second against such a team.”
