Nicola Legrottaglie (31 Viewers)
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Legro: We can conquer Europe.
Juventus stopper Nicola Legrottaglie is enjoying a renaissance this term and believes the Old Lady can win next season's Champions League.
Legrottaglie has stepped up to the mark after Jorge Andrade sustained a serious knee injury early in the season and he has exceeded all expectations.
This weekend sees Legro take on former boss Gigi Del Neri, who coached him at Chievo during his five-year stay at the Stadio Bentegodi.
“I owe Del Neri so much,” he told the Juventus Channel.
“He launched my career at the top level and I am grateful, just as I am grateful to Claudio Ranieri who had faith in me during a dark period.”
Legrottaglie’s improvement this term, which he partly attributes to his newfound Christianity, has been such that there are tentative calls for the Bari native to go to Euro 2008.
“I know that I am a long way back in the queue, but it wouldn’t be a bad way to conclude this magnificent year,” he grinned.
“I am hoping it happens, even if it would be very difficult. Today’s Nicola is very different from the Nicola of four or five years ago.
“It’s a shame that I didn’t understand certain things before, as they have changed my life.”
The 31-year-old missed out on Juve’s midweek 3-0 win over Parma due to a virus.
“I watched the game from my sofa at home,” he revealed. “We did well to take advantage of their defensive attitude.
“We always suffer against the smaller sides because they give 120 per cent against Juventus, but we were determined from the start.
“We are having a marvellous season and we could mathematically secure Champions League qualification on Sunday. We deserve the position that we are in.
“Furthermore, I believe that we can immediately win the Champions League. If we reinforce and add players like Amauri then we are on the right track. It would be great to fight at the top level and we will try.”
Swedish international Olof Mellberg is due to arrive in the summer, but Legro doesn’t fear the competition for places.
“I don’t know him, but if we signed him then he must be good,” he stated.
“Am I worried about losing my starting spot? I am a fatalist, so if he is better than me then he will play.
“I started this year as a fifth-choice defender and now look at what has happened
I’m not scared of anything or anyone else.
“Transfer talk doesn’t bother me at all and I will just go about my business as usual.”
Juventus stopper Nicola Legrottaglie is enjoying a renaissance this term and believes the Old Lady can win next season's Champions League.
Legrottaglie has stepped up to the mark after Jorge Andrade sustained a serious knee injury early in the season and he has exceeded all expectations.
This weekend sees Legro take on former boss Gigi Del Neri, who coached him at Chievo during his five-year stay at the Stadio Bentegodi.
“I owe Del Neri so much,” he told the Juventus Channel.
“He launched my career at the top level and I am grateful, just as I am grateful to Claudio Ranieri who had faith in me during a dark period.”
Legrottaglie’s improvement this term, which he partly attributes to his newfound Christianity, has been such that there are tentative calls for the Bari native to go to Euro 2008.
“I know that I am a long way back in the queue, but it wouldn’t be a bad way to conclude this magnificent year,” he grinned.
“I am hoping it happens, even if it would be very difficult. Today’s Nicola is very different from the Nicola of four or five years ago.
“It’s a shame that I didn’t understand certain things before, as they have changed my life.”
The 31-year-old missed out on Juve’s midweek 3-0 win over Parma due to a virus.
“I watched the game from my sofa at home,” he revealed. “We did well to take advantage of their defensive attitude.
“We always suffer against the smaller sides because they give 120 per cent against Juventus, but we were determined from the start.
“We are having a marvellous season and we could mathematically secure Champions League qualification on Sunday. We deserve the position that we are in.
“Furthermore, I believe that we can immediately win the Champions League. If we reinforce and add players like Amauri then we are on the right track. It would be great to fight at the top level and we will try.”
Swedish international Olof Mellberg is due to arrive in the summer, but Legro doesn’t fear the competition for places.
“I don’t know him, but if we signed him then he must be good,” he stated.
“Am I worried about losing my starting spot? I am a fatalist, so if he is better than me then he will play.
“I started this year as a fifth-choice defender and now look at what has happened
I’m not scared of anything or anyone else.
“Transfer talk doesn’t bother me at all and I will just go about my business as usual.”
LEGROTTAGLIE EYEING EURO GLORY
Juventus defender Nicola Legrottaglie insists that having all but secured their Champions League spot for next season, the Bianconeri can win Europe's premier club competition.
Juventus cruised to a 3-0 win over Parma in the rescheduled week 31 fixture on Wednesday night to restore an eight-point lead over fourth-placed Fiorentina.
That result saw them almost certainly bag a Champions League spot and Juve will definitively do so if they triumph at mid-table Atalanta on Sunday and Sampdoria fail to defeat Udinese.
The mood is good inside the Juve camp and Legrottaglie is looking forward to the trip to Bergamo where he will meet up with former boss Luigi Del Neri, who coached him for three seasons at Chievo.
"We're meeting Atalanta, trained by a coach to whom I owe so much," Legrottaglie told Juventus Channel.
"Del Neri took a chance on me and I am grateful to him - as grateful as I am to (Juve boss Claudio) Ranieri who had faith in me after a dark period.
"We are having a marvellous season and already on Sunday we could celebrate mathematically qualifying for the Champions League.
"I believe we can win the Champions League next year as long as we bring in reinforcements - and if players like (Palermo striker) Amauri arrive that means we are on the right path.
"It would be good to succeed at our first attempt and we want to try to do so."
Atalanta slipped down the table to 11th place after losing 2-0 at Napoli last weekend and will be looking to avoid a third consecutive defeat.
Defender Moris Carrozzieri has called for the side to put the defeat in Naples behind them ahead of this weekend's test.
"On Sunday we were unable to play our best," he said. "Now we need to turn the page and start thinking about Juventus.
"They are in top form and are fighting for the Champions League so it will not be easy.
"We have to pay attention and give our all, playing with determination and character.
"Up to now we gave worked well, the season has been positive.
"We could have done even better and won a few games more, but we are satisfied with what we have done.
"We can't let our guard down: difficult games are waiting for us and we will try to pick up as many points as possible."
Cristiano Doni is again unavailable for the hosts as he serves his second of a two-match ban after being sent off against Internazionale.
Costinha, Zlatan Muslimovic and Leonardo Talamonti join him on the sidelines but Claudio Rivalta and Antonio Langella returned to training this week and could feature on Sunday.
Juve stars Cristiano Zanetti and Pavel Nedved have recovered from injury and should be back in the squad but Vincenzo Iaquinta will be out for around three weeks after injuring himself during training.
Mohamed Sissoko is also still injured and they could be joined on the sidelines by Giorgio Chiellini, who showed signs of tiredness against Parma and might be rested by Ranieri.
from:Sportinglife.com
Ah well! At least it gives him time to recover from the bruises he got from those ****** Atalanta thugs!20 April 2008
Legrottaglie: «The first goal was important»
Playing in front of his mentor Del Neri, Nicola Legrottaglie achieved a small personal record today: three goals this season with Juventus, one more than he scored in his first season after joining from Chievo.
Three goals, and all of them decisive. Exactly like against Reggina, his decisive opener opened the floodgates for a wide win: «The opening goal allowed us to go one up and when that happens, it becomes easier to play on the counter-attack. The thing that pleases me the most today is that we didn't let any goals in. Even when we were 4-0 up Atalanta's forwards made it tough for us. We can definitely say we're in the Champions League at this point and if Roma lose a few other beats, maybe we can do another miracle. My performance? I don't wish the flu virus on anyone; at the end of the match I was exhausted. I'd never had cramps before».
from : Juventus.com
Legrottaglie: «The first goal was important»
Playing in front of his mentor Del Neri, Nicola Legrottaglie achieved a small personal record today: three goals this season with Juventus, one more than he scored in his first season after joining from Chievo.
Three goals, and all of them decisive. Exactly like against Reggina, his decisive opener opened the floodgates for a wide win: «The opening goal allowed us to go one up and when that happens, it becomes easier to play on the counter-attack. The thing that pleases me the most today is that we didn't let any goals in. Even when we were 4-0 up Atalanta's forwards made it tough for us. We can definitely say we're in the Champions League at this point and if Roma lose a few other beats, maybe we can do another miracle. My performance? I don't wish the flu virus on anyone; at the end of the match I was exhausted. I'd never had cramps before».
from : Juventus.com
21/04/2008 18:24
Legro Eyeing Up Second Placed Roma
Juventus defender Nicola Legrottaglie has set his sights on catching Roma in second place.The Bianconeri have all but secured Champions League football after a thumping 4-0 win at Atalanta yesterday afternoon.
Nicola Legrottaglie opened the scoring in the game after just 47 seconds, before Alessandro Del Piero fired in a superb hat-trick.
“The opening goal allowed us to go one up and when that happens, it becomes easier to play on the counter-attack,” said Legrottaglie.
“The thing that pleases me the most is that we didn't let any goals in. Even when we were 4-0 up Atalanta's forwards made it tough for us.”
With Roma only drawing against Reggina, Juve are now five points behind the second-placed Giallorossi with four games left to play.
“We can definitely say we're in the Champions League at this point and if Roma lose a few other points, maybe we can do another miracle,” Legrottaglie continued.
“My performance? I don't wish the flu virus on anyone; at the end of the match I was exhausted. I'd never had cramps before.”
Gianni Wilson
from :Goal.com
Legro Eyeing Up Second Placed Roma
Juventus defender Nicola Legrottaglie has set his sights on catching Roma in second place.The Bianconeri have all but secured Champions League football after a thumping 4-0 win at Atalanta yesterday afternoon.
Nicola Legrottaglie opened the scoring in the game after just 47 seconds, before Alessandro Del Piero fired in a superb hat-trick.
“The opening goal allowed us to go one up and when that happens, it becomes easier to play on the counter-attack,” said Legrottaglie.
“The thing that pleases me the most is that we didn't let any goals in. Even when we were 4-0 up Atalanta's forwards made it tough for us.”
With Roma only drawing against Reggina, Juve are now five points behind the second-placed Giallorossi with four games left to play.
“We can definitely say we're in the Champions League at this point and if Roma lose a few other points, maybe we can do another miracle,” Legrottaglie continued.
“My performance? I don't wish the flu virus on anyone; at the end of the match I was exhausted. I'd never had cramps before.”
Gianni Wilson
from :Goal.com
