Davide Nicola comments on the 4-0 defeat away to Juventus in the Coppa Italia Frecciarossa Round of 16.
THE MATCH
“We played a great match until the second goal, then we dropped off and Juventus’ quality came through. It’s disappointing because we wanted to advance, to try to achieve a great result. We didn’t succeed, and it’s a shame because in the first half we could have taken the lead. We honored this competition, the performance was good until we dropped off after the 0-2. It’s clear that after that, you have to push forward a bit and take risks. It was right to give some less-used players a chance, it’s normal that some are a bit behind and need to improve. Today, we tried to take the game to them, I don’t like just sitting back and defending too much. At a certain point, we dropped off mentally and physically, and the result was heavy. We accept it, as we acknowledge the strength of today’s opponent.”
HONORING THE ITALIAN CUP
“We didn’t approach this competition as a nuisance. We came here with the idea of giving it our all, while making some changes to manage our energy over the medium to long term. We believed in it, and I think we showed that until the 0-2. After that, it definitely got more complicated, but until Koopmeiners’ goal, the spirit was one of the best and we could have also turned our chances into goals.”
Fammi sapere se hai altre frasi da tradurre o se posso aiutarti in altro modo!
MIGLIORARE NELLA CONCRETIZZAZIONE
“Sapevamo chi andavamo a incontrare, è ovvio che sia importante fare gol quando ne hai la possibilità e lo meriti, così non è successo e ad un certo punto abbiamo pagato dazio. Problema del gol? Dico sempre che non siamo una squadra con numeri altisonanti, bensì dobbiamo costruirceli giorno dopo giorno per arrivare a crescere, intanto creiamo le occasioni ed è importante, ora la sfida è andare a concretizzarle”.
IMPROVING IN FINISHING
“We knew who we were going to face, and it’s obvious that it’s important to score when you have the chance and deserve it, but that didn’t happen, and at some point, we paid the price. The goal-scoring problem? I always say that we’re not a team with flashy numbers, but we have to build them day by day in order to grow. In the meantime, we’re creating chances, and that’s important. Now the challenge is to convert them.”
TOWARDS VENEZIA
“Juventus in ten days, playing two great matches and an excellent first half. Against these teams, you always have to be at your best and you can’t afford to make any mistakes. In today’s football, there is little speculation, and the aim is always to propose and not just defend. This applies to everyone, against everyone, and it’s right and beautiful that way. We close today’s match with the awareness that we gave our best. Now there’s a direct clash ahead, but in general, we know our final goal and we need to get a certain number of points to reach it. We can’t disregard our style of play and the construction of our identity; then we can win or lose. So far, we’ve earned points both against direct rivals and against teams with different objectives. The match against Venezia is not only crucial, all the upcoming matches are key, and we’re neither safe now nor relegated. So, we move forward with confidence because I see how my players work every day. A few setbacks every now and then are part of the game, and so we keep going straight ahead without worrying too much about other people’s expectations.”