In an interview with Sky Sport today, Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci discussed the upcoming league clash against Napoli as well as the controversies that emerged from the cup semi-final against Inter.
The centre-back highlighted his positive experience with Azzurri manager at Milan, insisting that despite the current issues at the club the fixture remains a tough ask. When asked about the war of words between Inter manager Antonio Conte and Juventus president Andrea Agnelli, the Italian international remained diplomatic and pointed out that arguments during matches are a regular occurrence.
“I’ve was lucky to have Gattuso as manager at Milan. He helped me a lot, he’s a great coach and he works with a team made up of true men – I wish them the best. The Supercoppa game [in which Juventus beat Napoli] should be forgotten about – we might have won that game, but it’s a different Napoli that’s waiting for us.”
“I don’t think they’re a team in crisis, they’ve had a few difficulties and they’ll have absences, but we have to remain concentrated on the objective which is to get three points to carry on the momentum for the run-in that we’ve begun. We’ll have to be very careful, Napoli will have changed with respect to the Supercoppa because I think Osimhen will play, so they’ll be attacking with more depth than when Petagna played.”
“[On the Conte-Agnelli spat] There’s not much to add, the images clearly speak for themselves, what happened was bad – but it’s not my place to judge on why it happened nor what should have been done. Obviously we all have to set an example, but sometimes it can be difficult. When you step onto the pitch the atmosphere means that you get carried away. At times, the adrenaline and the tension turn you into something different with respect to what you would like to be or transmit, you get episodes like this one which are amplified by an empty stadium and microphones on the edge of the pitch that even pick up sneezes.”
“It’ll be a new and difficult final, but we’ll have the desire to bring home the cup. It’s yet another confirmation for the team that after the loss against Inter something different clicked in us as a team and as individuals and this bodes well.”
