Bodo Glimt-Juve, Spalletti in conference

“What if I feel cold? You’re going to crash with me, I spent five years in Russia, my daughter was born there: the others give in to the climate after three months, I don’t…”. Luciano Spalletti smiles, or rather laughs: the Norwegian journalist too. Curtain closed and game open: main pitch, synthetic and frost. “They (the former Italian coach points to Cambiaso at his side, ed) will have the bad sensation of breathing worse than usual due to the temperatures below zero and the ball will have unnatural bounces: we will have to adapt and – says Spalletti – make use of our qualities…”. The environment, here in Bodo, beyond the Arctic Circle, is inevitably another story: Roma and Lazio know something about it, both knocked out, but also battleships like Arsenal or former battleships like Manchester United which have miraculously remained standing.

bodo glimt-juve, shoulder pads and Cambiaso in conference

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The Juventus coach doesn’t throw the ball into the stands of the small stadium a stone’s throw from the heart of the city: he keeps the ball between his feet. “We need to unleash our creativity, we have plenty to show everyone: the risk – says Luciano da Certaldo – is that the kids think too much about what they have to do. Reading around it seems that we are doing everything badly, very badly, that’s not the case: our horses haven’t all been expressed yet…”. Frost, synthetic pitch and ranking of the first phase of the Champions League: in Norway where until the Seventies not even the clubs from Haaland’s country came to play, Juve offers up a variety of questions. “Yes, it’s true: our margin for error has been drastically reduced if we want to move forward in Europe”, says Andrea Cambiaso. The ball slides again on the environmental conditions, a curve that seems like a full-blown trap. “I haven’t played on a synthetic pitch since I was seventeen and I was among the Genoa students: we talked about it among ourselves, we are aware of what we will find. In the national team, I also reflected on this with Gugliemo (Vicario, ed), he was here twice with his Tottenham”. Spalletti doesn’t feel cold, his Juventus will, however, have to warm him up with an ace ahead of Saturday’s outing in Florence. “But we’re not doing that badly”, repeats the coach who has arrived to get the Juventus world back on track and fresh from three draws in a row.