Claudio Marchisio ‘hopes this is Juventus’ year in the Champions League’ and says players should ignore the ‘idiots’ who dish out racial abuse.

Marchisio reached two Champions League Finals during his Juve career, while the debate of players leaving the field is back on the agenda after Kalidou Koulibaly was subjected to monkey chants during Napoli’s 1-0 defeat to Inter last month.

“The Supercoppa a one-legged tie, and that makes a lot of difference,” the Zenit St Petersburg midfielder told Sky Sport Italia.

Claudio Marchisio ‘hopes this is Juventus’ year in the Champions League’ and says players should ignore the ‘idiots’ who dish out racial abuse.

Marchisio reached two Champions League Finals during his Juve career, while the debate of players leaving the field is back on the agenda after Kalidou Koulibaly was subjected to monkey chants during Napoli’s 1-0 defeat to Inter last month.

“The Supercoppa a one-legged tie, and that makes a lot of difference,” the Zenit St Petersburg midfielder told Sky Sport Italia.

“We’ve also seen it in the past because we’ve lost Supercoppas against teams who had less chances than us but instead took theirs and we lost two trophies.

“Motivation is very important in one-legged ties, concentration even more so, because you play for it all in the 90 minutes and more.

“I hope this is Juve’s year for the Champions League because it would mark the end of an unstoppable cycle for them, especially for those who have been there since the first Scudetto but also for the great work everyone’s doing, from the club to the staff.

“I think they deserve it, but they know that, even if they have a better chance now than in previous seasons, it’s always very difficult.

“Racism is a big problem and I understand foreign players playing in Italy very well, but I’d try to be even stronger and keep playing so the idiots aren’t given any attention.”

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