Monday, March 2, 2009
Ranieri: "The Coppa Italia Is Not A Nuisance"
The longest and most intense week of the season is about to begin: 7 days and 3 matches valid for as many competitions. And what matches! Lazio in the Coppa Italia, derby in the championship and Chelsea in the Champions League.
Down with the first match. Tomorrow, Tuesday 3rd March, Ranieri’s team will play the first act of the semi-final. After having eliminated Catania and Napoli it is time to meet Lazio one of the teams most in form at the moment:
"For us the Coppa Italia is not a nuisance – declared the coach during the press conference-, we would like to win this competition. I am only sorry it came at this time of the season. We had asked for a change in the dates so as not to have too many matches in such a short period of time but it was not possible. Bad luck, but we will not back out and we will be playing against a team which is doing very well at the moment. A match even harder then the one in the championship awaits us".
With another two close and important matches Ranieri needs everybody. Legrottaglie is forced to miss the match due to the blow suffered during the match against Napoli in a collision with Buffon and the latter will benefit of a day of rest but all the others are ready both for the match in the capital but also for the end of the season:
"All the first-team players are available. I am saying this because I consider every member of the squad a first-team player. The strength of Juve could be seen when the champions were missing and the youngsters that substituted them did not make us miss them. Tomorrow Manninger will start. Zebina? We are happy with his performance yesterday with the Primavera and it is important to be able to count on him".
Juventus will therefore depart for Rome with the aim of winning a place in the Coppa Italia final. Managing to get to the final would be another milestone in a season in which the bianconeri do not intend letting go of anything including the championship.
"Having obtained more points then last season is already a sign of merit but we mustn’t stop here. This is why I am happy to have players that are never happy and want the best. The attack? During a year there can be a time of difficulty but our players surely haven’t forgotten how to score. Besides we have the third best attack in the Serie A and therefore we are not doing so badly. Then at the end of the day it is not the number of goals scored that counts but how many less we concede".
Juventus.com
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