Claudio Marchisio took some time out away from the pitch to do his bit for a good cause this evening. "Il Principino" was at the Charity Shop, the annual fundraising bazaar - now in its third year - set up in Via Gramsci 7/A that his wife Roberta helps to promote. The initiative aims to raise funds for the Fondazione Crescere Insieme al Sant'Anna.
This year's Charity Shop can already be considered a roaring success and the total collected is expected to reach €50,000 when the shop shuts on Sunday 16 December. Claudio made his own contribution by handing over a cheque for €15,000 from the sales of his autobiography. The Bianconeri midfielder explained: "Being a father has made me become even more aware of how important it is to help children. I want to thank all the people who have played their part in turning this project into a success, not only by buying my book but also just by being involved in the many events organised to support the Fondazione Crescere Insieme al Sant’Anna.
Claudio also took a few moments to answer questions from journalists eager to hear his view on how Juve are faring: "We've achieved our first two targets for the season, which were to make it through to the next round in the Champions League and the Coppa Italia, but now we're fully focused on the upcoming league matches. Atalanta and Cagliari might look like easy games on paper but we must make sure we keep putting in 100%. The pitches are difficult to play on at this time of year because the cold weather makes them hard, and we saw that in our cup tie the other night. We mustn't let our concentration drop because we don't only want to stay top, if we can we'd like to extend our lead before we go into the Christmas break."
Juve remain top despite a heavy fixture list as they battle on three fronts: "Winning the Scudetto last year really helped and we've been able to keep playing at a high level even though we have an extra competition this term. But the club has worked hard so that we're equipped to handle it all and we've managed to avoid the problems that all teams go through every year. We've delivered with some top-class performances – especially in the Champions League, where we could have been knocked out but instead ended up beating Chelsea and Shakhtar and winning the group."
And the Bianconeri did it all without Antonio Conte in the dugout for four months: "It's not easy to get used to playing without your coach, especially after we won the title together. We missed him most during the interval because that's when teams need someone to give them instructions. But we've improved even without him and now that we've got him back we'll be able to perform even better."
The sky is the limit for Juventus: "Our target must always be win everything we're involved in, but we'll see what we've managed to achieve at the end of the year. Our main rivals? The name seems to change every week. When we played Roma, people said it might be them, afterwards it was Napoli, then Inter... We know there are teams behind us who have their sights set on the title, but we just have to make sure we concentrate on ourselves. Can we win the Champions League? Last year Chelsea won it and they weren't the favourites, but they had great team unity. That's something we have too. There might be a few teams with a bit more quality than us but if we play with the same level of determination we showed during the group stage then we'll be in with a shout."
Source: Juventus.com
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