Juan Cuadrado gave a rare interview to Sky Sport yesterday and looked back at the time spent on the shelf due to a knee surgery: “In football, it happens to get injured, but watching the games without being able help my teammates made me a little sad. I always focused on carrying on and recovering in the shortest time possible. I went through the process with a smile, which made everything easier.”
On the season: “It is never easy to take home the Scudetto, we have worked a lot to achieve it. People think that this year was a failure because we were eliminated from the Champions League, but that is not true: triumphing in the domestic league for the eighth time in a row was extraordinary, few are able to pull it off and it will forever be written in the history books.”
On the upcoming Derby: “We have great motivation too, we do not have a ceiling, we always want to improve and that is what we did last week in Milan versus Inter too. We will take the filed with the same desire to win as ever, which is what matters the most. We want to go as far as possible.”
On his future: “I have a nice relationship with the management, the city and the fans. My family is fine here, I have a year left on my contract, but it is not up to me. I always try to do my best and I would be very happy to stay.”
Federico Bernardeschi instead talked to Gazzetta dello Sport: “Juventus make you grow, but only if you are able to receive the messages that it sends to you. I am a more complete player and man now. I have made a leap I am very proud of, you truly change when you get here. I am really happy for rounding up my game, even though I have scored less. A modern footballer must work all his skills to better himself. Being able to feature in different roles is not a limitation, it opens up more opportunities for the team and the coach. I have to be more clinical though.”
On the Champions League: “The reason for the elimination is simply the nature of the competition itself. Every team that reaches the quarter-finals has the potential to win it all. The Ajax players have been accustomed to playing together since the youth academy, they have that little something more that we are lacking in Italy. They already debut when they are 16 there, here at 20. We need more courage. Ajax deserved to go through. We can bounce back next year, we go into every season believing we can prevail.”
On Massimiliano Allegri: “He holds everybody accountable, he is loud. I know that I have to improve mentally and he reminds me of that because he values me and thinks I can give more. I like when he yells at me in practice, often in Tuscan, he has some constructive criticism.”
On Cristiano Ronaldo: “He has given something to everybody who has gotten close to him. He is a champion through and through. I prefer facing him in training rather than playing next to him, because that is the easy way. As an opponent, you challenge yourself. His presence can overshadow you or be an extra motivation: I picked the second way, trying to learn in silence everything I saw from him. I am happy for the relationship we have been able to build.”
On Torino: “The Derby always matters and we want to win. I am not surprised to see them up there in the standings, they have always had great potential. I would like to see two Turin clubs in Europe. There is a nice atmosphere in the city, the Granata fans stop me to say that they will win. The game will fall in a particular moment this year between the Superga anniversary and the tensions between the supporters. It would be nice if the stadiums finally became positive examples.”
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