The Monza coach, Alessandro Nesta, spoke at a press conference ahead of the championship match against Juventus, valid for the seventeenth matchday of Serie A
The Monza will host the Juventus Of Thiago Motta Sunday 22 December at U-Power Stadium with kick-off at 8.45pm. The match is valid for the seventeenth matchday of Serie A. A match, the one against the Bianconeri, which evokes sweet memories. Monza’s first and historic victory in Serie A actually came against Juventus at home on 18 September 2022 (Monza-Juventus 1-0, decisive goal by Christian Gytkjaer) on the seventh day of the 2022/2023 championship. That match, moreover, coincided with Raffaele Palladino’s debut on the Brianza bench.
In the return match Monza managed to achieve another victory, with Patrick Ciurria and Dany Mota defeating Juventus already in the first half. Last season the Bianconeri won both championship matches, 2-1 away and 2-0 at home at the Allianz Stadium. The moment that Monza is going through is decidedly different and more complicated, with the last place in the standings shared with Venezia at 10 points. After 16 matchdays the Brianza team has collected one victory, 7 draws and 8 defeats. Last and only success on 21 October against Hellas Verona (0-3) at Bentegodi. After that victory came 3 draws and 5 defeats in the last 8 matchdays. Too little for a Monza team that wants to get out of the quicksand of the relegation zone as soon as possible. In view of the eagerly awaited match against Juventus, the Monza coach spoke at the press conference, Alessandro Nesta.
Monza-Juventus, Nesta’s words in the press conference
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Nesta immediately takes stock of the moment his team is going through and the current position in the standings: “Despite the defeat against Udinese I complimented them, but after Lecce it was different. We didn’t do well, particularly in the approach The message that must be conveyed is that we must not lose confidence, we have lost important players who we really need at this moment, we must do it like against Udinese, not like against Lecce.
The ranking? Five points from safety are enough, but we must try to remain attached, even in difficulties. We have to improve the ranking. Juventus is a great team, tomorrow we must give important signals.”
The Monza coach continues: “With regards to the path taken so far, it bothers me that when we had to win we didn’t win. There were bad matches but they weren’t all of them. For example against Turin, Venice and Milan We should have won at home. Is that the Christmas present I would like to find under the tree?
Focus on Juventus and the transfer market
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Focus on Juventus and the emergency in the offensive department: “I believe that against teams like Juventus we need to find the right way and not risk too much. This must be our skill. We certainly have some problems, but also in the middle of the pitch we are short. Juventus is a very physical team, we will have to try to field a solid lineup. Help from the market? The priorities also change based on injuries, we will certainly not be able to choose the players and spend twenty million euros for an attacker, but seize the right opportunities. If you ask me how many players I would like, I would make a very long list of names.
Akpa-Akpro? We talked about it, he is a viable player. He may be important to us, since he already knows the environment. Are you going out? Nobody goes out, no, for goodness sake. We have a strong ownership and we can’t send anyone away. It’s clear that we can’t make the same shots as we once did, then I don’t know at the end of the year.”
The fight for survival is tougher than ever, Nesta is clear: “There are teams more used to saving themselves than us, Empoli comes to mind. We have entered into the perspective that this year will be really tough. For us, matches like Lecce -Monza are big matches. And obviously we shouldn’t make any bigger surprises at the start of the season. Speaking of injuries, Nesta counted the unavailable players: “Valoti, Vignato, Djuric, Pessina and Gagliardini are out. Caldirola is better but in doubt, Ciurria is fine”.
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