18 December 2015
Stephan Lichtsteiner says the Bianconeri mustn’t underestimate Carpi when they run out at the Stadio Alberto Braglia for their final encounter of the calendar year on Sunday lunchtime.
The hosts, promoted to the top flight for the first time in their history at the end of last season, are finding life tough in Italy’s premier division and currently occupy penultimate spot in the Serie A standings.
In spite of this, the Biancorossi have displayed their ability to mix it with the big guns this season, with a midweek Coppa Italia away win over Fiorentina a key sign of their potential to pull out all the stops when required.
As such, Lichtsteiner claims Juventus will be taking nothing for granted as they aim to see out 2015 in style with all three points this weekend.
Speaking to Sky Sport, the Swiss defender began: “We’ve got the opportunity to make it seven Serie A wins in a row but seeing as Carpi have upset the odds by taking a point off Napoli and knocking Fiorentina out of the cup, we must be aware that it could a potential banana skin for us.”
Another potential spanner in the works comes in the form of the unusual 12.30 CET kick-off time, but Stephan says the Bianconeri’s need for points and the wealth of experience possessed by the squad mean there will be no excuses in Modena.
“We need to prepare for it as we do every game. The kick-off time doesn’t work in our favour, seeing as we’re used to playing in the evening, but as we’re playing catch up we can’t allow ourselves to drop points. I’m not worried though because we’re all professionals who are capable of dealing with this scenario.”
Sunday will see the reigning champions lock horns with a familiar face in Marco Borriello, a loan signing who contributed to the first of Juventus’ four consecutive Scudetto victories in 2011/12.
His impact drew praise from Lichtsteiner, who was quick to laud the frontman’s work ethic during his five months in Turin.
He concluded: “We didn’t play together much, only four or five months, but he’s a top guy who made a great contribution every time he crossed the white line.”
