Antonio Conte has urged Bianconeri fans to raise the roof at Juventus Stadium as he prepares to lead his men into the first of “13 World Cup finals” on Sunday afternoon against Siena.
The Tuscan relegation strugglers have earned plenty of plaudits in recent weeks after boosting their survival hopes with ten points from their last five games.
And Conte believes the supporters have a crucial part to play as Juventus aim to steal a march on nearest rivals Napoli by claiming victory in front of a capacity crowd in Turin.
Speaking in a press conference at Juventus Stadium, Conte began: “We need to play 13 World Cup finals and dropping points could prove costly. We’ll face a very difficult fixture tomorrow and I hope the fans take note and raise the volume at the stadium.
“Now is the time to urge the team on in the way they did last year and have done on certain occasions this season.”
Tomorrow’s visitors Siena approach the game in a rich vein of form after defying their position in the lower reaches of Serie A to record resounding triumphs over Lazio and Inter.
And Conte warned of the threat posed by a resurgent side determined to guarantee their third consecutive season in Italy’s top flight.
“Siena will put us under pressure. They’re in excellent form and have conceded just three goals in their last five games. They produced comprehensive wins over Inter and Lazio and were only beaten in Udine by a goal on the counter.
“They’ve got a good mentality, strong work ethic and an excellent coach in Iachini. People might say it looks straightforward on paper, but that certainly won’t be the case.”
Conte then moved on to provide an update on the conditions of Bianconeri trio Martin Caceres, Arturo Vidal and Giorgio Chiellini - but elected to keep his cards close to his chest when quizzed on tomorrow’s possible starting line-up.
“I still haven’t decided on tomorrow’s team. Caceres and Vidal both missed yesterday’s training session. Martin won’t make it in time for tomorrow, while we’ll assess Arturo’s ankle in today’s workout. Chiellini has trained the entire week with us and will be on the bench”
The press conference drew to a close with a general reflection on the current state of Italian football following positive European displays by Milan, Lazio and Inter in midweek.
“In Italy we’re tackling the economic crisis through ideas, work, culture and focusing on developing youngsters. We’ve lost many great players, but this has brought the opportunity for coaches to bridge the gap with work and organisation. The Italian league is very competitive and we’ve displayed that in Europe.
“I’d like to congratulate Milan and Allegri on their magnificent achievement in midweek. Inter and Lazio also did extremely well. Italian teams are very well organised. If a foreign side lined up against Siena tomorrow, they would come up against the same difficulties that we’ll face.”
Source: Juventus.com
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