Spezia coach Thiago Motta said his players will be ‘extra motivated’ ahead of the match against Juventus. ‘Everyone would like to play’.
Motta’s men picked up their first win against Venezia last time and have four points from four games after a 2-2 draw against Cagliari in the first leg.
In between the two positive results, Spezia have lost to Lazio and Udinese, and Motta was pleased to see his team pick up their first three-pointer.
“The players wanted it,” Motta said at a press conference. “From the outside, you can try to make a change, but from the start they showed that they want three points against a direct opponent.
“We are happy because in the end, the performance gave us the win.”
Motta said he’s not forced to make any changes, despite the big effort made against Venezia.
“Physically, I see them all well, even those who arrived later and without a very good preparation,” he continued. “Many didn’t start training with their team for many reasons, and those who started the season with us had a good preparation.
“Talking only about the physical part of football is difficult, because with the physical, there’s the mental aspect, the moment.
“I see the lads very well, whoever has the chance to play tomorrow will be fine.”
Motta was asked how he will prepare the younger players for the big task against Max Allegri’s men.
“It has to be as normal as possible, even if it isn’t,” he continued. “Playing against Juve, Inter, Milan, at home, doesn’t give me the need to motivate the players because everyone would like to play.
“Tomorrow, whoever enters the pitch will have the enormous luck of being able to play a football match in front of our fans, even if I’m sorry that everyone can’t come, but only 50 per cent.
“We will be ourselves with desire and initiative, to help the fans of giving us a hand against one of the possible contenders for the championship.
“I don’t see why I must prepare them differently; they will be extra motivated.”
Motta believes Juventus will bounce back due to their ‘quality’ and stressed the Aquilotti must ‘be at our best’.
“Juventus have a squad with players we don’t need to judge,” he said. “They have a huge level. They are a large, high-quality squad.
“They are going through a difficult moment but I expect what I saw against Malmö and Milan in the first half, and also in the second, even if they didn’t get the result.
“We have to be at our best, play our game and see what happens. In terms of results, they can be in difficulty, but we all have pressure. We have to score more points to get to the end and play against the teams that can fight with us. Tomorrow will be no different.”
Oh good, “extra motivated”, because only “motivated” to kick down the the perennial juggernauts when they’re in complete disarray clearly isn’t enough. Despite getting blown out against Lazio, Spezia might have enough to keep this game interesting (for their side). Maybe Juve get lucky, Allegri gets red carded for popping a blood vessel from his tirades, and the team manages to score twice.
I really hope Spezia can spark something against us. Would be even sweeter if Salernitana can pick a point from their match too.
Then things would be very, very interesting