Federico Gatti scored the first goal of his Juventus career to give them a 1-0 Europa League quarter-final win over Sporting CP. ‘I can’t even put these feelings into words.’
The Bianconeri had risked going behind several times in Turin, rescued by Wojciech Szczesny and Mattia Perin saves, but Gatti was in the right place at the right time to bundle over when Dusan Vlahovic’s header was cleared off the line.
“I can’t even put these feelings into words. I dedicate this goal to my grandfather, who died in December, and to my girlfriend, who was always stood by me,” Gatti told Sky Sport Italia.
The Italy international had said that his grandfather burst into tears of pride the moment he signed the contract with Juventus, so this first goal was something he had been looking forward to.
As for the Europa League quarter-final, the second leg will be in Lisbon next Thursday evening and Juve bring with them a slender lead.
“This is only the first small step, it was a very tough game, Sporting are a very strong team and especially dangerous in attack. It is only a slight lead, it will be all to play for and extremely difficult in the second leg.”
Gatti had struggled at first to settle in at Juve after leaving Serie B side Frosinone, but has now formed a good partnership with Danilo and Gleison Bremer.
“We fight for every ball and Perin saved us at the last second today, that was an enormous risk, especially after conceding the equaliser against Inter in the Coppa Italia at the last minute. We cannot keep running these risks at the end.
“The step up was enormous, so it’s only normal that would take me a period of adjustment, but the more I play, the better I feel. My teammates and the coach are helping me through it and put me in a condition to give my best.”