Juventus captain Danilo explains where it went wrong on the Nantes equaliser, gives his penalty opinion and warns anyone will struggle in Europe without ‘the right intensity.’
The Bianconeri were held to a 1-1 home draw in the Europa League play-off, as Dusan Vlahovic’s goal was cancelled out by a rapid Ludovic Blas counter-attack.
“First up, all of us want to express our team’s thoughts for Ignatius Ganago, whose daughter died this week. We cannot imagine what he is going through,” Danilo told Sky Sport Italia.
“Clearly, we started well, moving the ball and finding the right spaces. We slowed down and they regained confidence. In Europe it doesn’t matter who the opponent is, if you don’t play with the right intensity, you will struggle.
“We knew Nantes had quality strikers and a lot of pace. We have to improve our choices, as we reach the final third well, but then don’t always pick the right pass or shot. We need to be more determined and also to learn when to slow down or speed up the tempo.”
There were several unfortunate incidents this evening, including Federico Chiesa somehow managing to hit the crossbar, the goal-line and the inside of the upright all with one shot, while Angel Di Maria also thumped the crossbar.
On the Nantes goal, Bremer slipped and allowed Mostafa Mohamed and Blas to surge forward undisturbed.
“I think if Bremer hadn’t slipped, we would’ve defended that counter-attack better. These things happen, it’s bad luck and we conceded.
“We did have the right attitude after that and luck wasn’t on our side, but we shouldn’t need luck, we should be able to put the ball in the net.”
Alessandro Del Piero was in the Sky Sport Italia studio and asked Danilo how the team will approach tomorrow’s training session and focus on the positive.
“We have to evaluate the whole game. It is not an easy period for Juve, I won’t hide that I thought it was clearly a penalty and that is all, but we must remember it is in our hands. We must raise the intensity and realise when the other team is struggling that this is the time to push harder.
“Tomorrow we will certainly feel confident, especially as Spezia are coming up on Sunday and fortunately with the modern football schedule we get a chance to prove ourselves again straight away.”