De Sciglio: "Hard work pays off"

Mattia De Sciglio savoured the sweet taste of success after Juve rounded off the calendar year with a hard-earned victory against Sampdoria.“We've achieved the target we set ourselves after the Atalanta game – to end the year with a win,” said the defender after the final whistle. “All the hard work we've put in since the start of the season has been well worth it."The Italy full-back admitted that beating Marco Giampaolo's side was no easy task.“Samp are very well organised. They're good at playing between the lines and we had a few problems when we got a bit stretched. But when we pulled tighter together again – with a little luck too – we managed to secure the win.”Juve appear unstoppable as they march into the new year with 17 wins from their first 19 games, a result which Mattia says is down to the Bianconeri's strength at both ends of the pitch.“With the players we have up front we know we can score at any moment so it's very important for us to be strong defensively. The better we move as a unit, the better results we get. Having the best defence is another achievement for us and something we want to repeat in the second half of the season.”