Monaco Coach Leonardo Jardim is concerned at the Juventus “winning mentality,” but “we have the same ambition, to play in the Champions League Final.”
The first leg of the Champions League semi-final kicks off at the Stade Louis II on Wednesday at 19.45 UK time (18.45 GMT).
“Of course tomorrow will be important, but I think the tie will be decided in Turin,” said the Coach in his Press conference.
Monaco Coach Leonardo Jardim is concerned at the Juventus “winning mentality,” but “we have the same ambition, to play in the Champions League Final.”
The first leg of the Champions League semi-final kicks off at the Stade Louis II on Wednesday at 19.45 UK time (18.45 GMT).
“Of course tomorrow will be important, but I think the tie will be decided in Turin,” said the Coach in his Press conference.
“Even if we concede at home, I am confident we’ll be able to score in Turin. We scored three past Dortmund, we scored against Tottenham, after all.
“Juventus have a great winning mentality, they are defensively strong, organised and good in attack too. They do well on set plays and corners. They are very dangerous with their experience and it’s difficult for us.
“The teams we played against, such as Dortmund and Manchester City, were less defensively-minded than Juventus. We need to be more careful on the transitions, on corners and set plays, but be very dangerous on the counter with pace, as that’s where we can hurt them.
“Juventus won’t think about our six goals against Dortmund, just as we aren’t thinking about their two clean sheets against Barcelona.
“We have the same ambition, which is to play in the Champions League Final. We’ll be at 100 per cent physically tomorrow and psychologically, as my players are ready to play the whole season to the limit.”
Juventus were built to win the Champions League, but what does this mean for Monaco to get this far?
“This semi-final is a big deal. It’s an adventure, it’s down to our daily work over the last 10 months. We played four games for the play-offs, starting in July, so we are now the team who have played the most matches in this Champions League – 16 games.
“I am optimistic. If the Coach isn’t the first person to be optimistic, then it’s not going to be passed down to the players. We have to make the most of our moment of form, rely on our organisation and focus only on those 180 minutes. What happens afterwards is irrelevant.”
Jardim has been linked to the Inter job, so when he does leave Monaco, would he like to follow in the footsteps of Jose Mourinho at San Siro or another Serie A club?
“Serie A is one of the top five European leagues. It’s of a high level, but for me and my future, right now the only important thing is the future of Monaco, the semi-final and the next Ligue 1 games. I am fully concentrated on that.”
Midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko is a risk for tomorrow’s match, as his nose was broken in training by teammate Kamil Glik.
“We’ll see tomorrow, he might need a new mask.”