Spalletti: ‘Juventus live for fourth place, we have to believe’
Luciano Spalletti has reasons to be happy and unhappy with the 3-3 draw at Roma, but above all Juventus believe in Champions League qualification. ‘I live for fourth place.’
The Bianconeri proved on Wednesday they refuse to give in, cancelling out the 5-2 first leg deficit to force Galatasaray to extra time in the Champions League play-off, despite being down to 10 men.
They showed immense character tonight too, as they were 3-1 down until the 78th minute, when Jeremie Boga and Federico Gatti completed the comeback for a 3-3 thriller at the Stadio Olimpico.
Spalletti sees good and bad for Juventus
“If we are talking about the reaction, then yes I am happy, but if we look at the first season, then I am not very happy,” Spalletti told DAZN Italia.
“We have to make an objective evaluation here. We go out of the Champions League in that manner after playing 120 minutes and getting a situation back on track that had become a mountain to climb.
“However, we were also too sluggish on the second and third goals. The players believed, they fought back, but we put ourselves in that situation too.”
It is worth noting that the two comeback goals were both scored by substitutes, and the free kick at the end was put in by another sub in Edon Zhegrova.
Did Spalletti believe he could turn this around with his changes off the bench?
“When you are 66 years old like me, you too will realise that you always believe, and that is what you must pass on to the players,” replied the coach.
“There are these flurries of enthusiasm created by moments of quality. Boga has intuition and can create situations out of nothing, so do Kenan Yildiz and Zhegrova. We must always have faith, in sport and in life.”
Although their recent results have been poor, the attitude and determination shown by Juventus inevitably must boost their confidence.
“In the last five games, we were down to 10 men in three of them, and that tires you out even more,” added Spalletti.
“You can try to find the right words to fuel their belief, but at this moment the fans helped too, and when they are behind us, the shirt weighs a little less on their shoulders.”
Defeat here would’ve been disastrous for their ambitions of a top four spot, as although it sees them slide back to sixth place, they are still within four points of Roma in fourth.
The battle for the Champions League qualification looks as if it will go down to the wire this season yet again.
“Of course I believe in this, I live for fourth place,” smiled Spalletti.
“Give it form and I live for that position. We had a moment where too much weighed on us, and we were not too fortunate either, but this team has grown a great deal in many different aspects.
“I believe we will have a splendid final portion of the season.”