Juventus vice-president Pavel Nedved warns the club ‘expect a great response’ against Porto tonight. ‘It is our duty to get through to the next round.’
The Champions League Round of 16 tie kicks off at 20.00 GMT and Juve must overturn a 2-1 first leg defeat.
Click here for the line-ups and LIVEBLOG.
Juventus vice-president Pavel Nedved warns the club ‘expect a great response’ against Porto tonight. ‘It is our duty to get through to the next round.’
The Champions League Round of 16 tie kicks off at 20.00 GMT and Juve must overturn a 2-1 first leg defeat.
Click here for the line-ups and LIVEBLOG.
“We were all waiting for this game and it is our duty to get through to the next round and we will give our best,” Nedved told JTV.
“The lads are ready. We need something extra in these evenings and we expect a great response from the whole team.
“We did well against Lazio, we rested a few players, and the response from everyone was important. Today Andrea Pirlo was able to make some choices, there are important players on the bench too and we are ready to give our all in order to progress.
“We’ll try to do better than in Oporto, where almost nothing was satisfactory about that game. We must prove that we belong in Europe.”
Porto are using the same starting XI as the first leg, which they won 2-1, including Pepe who was not fully fit.
“It’s possible Porto came here to defend, but considering it’s the same line-up as the first leg, I think they’ll try to repeat that performance and cause us problems.
“This is why we must play with more pace and quality.”
Nedved also spoke to Sky Sport Italia about the clash with Porto and reliance on Cristiano Ronaldo.
“This is a huge night, it’s a pity the fans aren’t here, as it is always better with our fans present,” Nedved told Sky Sport Italia.
“Cristiano is really fired up, we managed to rest him a little bit in Serie A. We are looking to him because he is a player who rarely gets it wrong on the big nights and he tends if anything to give his best.”