06 October 2014
Following this evening's victory over Roma, Juventus CEO Giuseppe Marotta spoke to journalists in the club's press suite at Juventus Stadium. Here is what he had to say:
On Totti: "I have great respect for him as a player. It’s understandable that he’s upset about the result but what he said was unacceptable. In the past Juve have had to bear the brunt for others' mistakes, but when the team has won it has won legitimately and deservingly from a footballing point of view."
Marotta continued: "There are doubts about decisions in every match. We should mention that Roma played very well, as we did. It wasn’t a spectacular game from a technical point of view; it was more of a battle than a football match – there was a lot of tension amongst the players. We showed immense desire to win the game and in the end it was a touch of brilliance that eventually decided it.
"Every year Juventus are accused of being favoured in dubious or unclear situations, but I believe that these decisions even themselves out over the course of a season. We’ve deserved to win over the last three years and we’ve done so by big margins, reflecting our technical and physical superiority over the runners-up.
"Do these decisions anger the so-called small teams? Roma are certainly not a small team. When we won the penalty it reminded me of the Juventus v Roma match that was played at the Olimpico in Turin," explained Marotta.
"Totti had a free-kick in the 47th minute and Pepe was in the wall. The ball struck his elbow, which was slightly raised, and Roma were given a penalty. Totti tucked the penalty away to make it 1-1 and that was the way it ended. Rizzoli was the referee – that year Roma got the decision and this year it was our turn to get a penalty from Rocchi."
