Juventus on Monday had to keep it cool as they patiently awaited an opener in their late home win against Hellas Verona in Serie A, a conduct coach Thiago Motta appreciated from his players.
Misfiring Juventus earned a 2-0 victory thanks to late goals from Khephren Thuram and Teun Koopmeiners, despite creating nearly 30 chances throughout the game and fully dominating their opponents.
“The way we got to the three points was important and it wasn’t easy,” Motta told DAZN. “Being calm means waiting and playing football. It’s not easy because after the elimination [from the Coppa Italia] the atmosphere was particular, and you could have an extra desire and anxiety to do things [right].”
Photo: Reuters
“When it’s like that you leave counterattacks, and instead we didn’t give our opponents that opportunity. In the second half we could have scored even more than the two goals. The boys deserved it and have a lot of quality,” he said.
Juve suffered a shock exit from the Coppa last week when they were beaten 4-2 on penalties by Empoli in the quarter-finals after the match ended in a 1-1 draw.
“In the last [cup] match we got our attitude wrong in the first half, but we are always very demanding with ourselves, we want to do better and that’s the secret,” Motta said. “We have to look for something to improve every day. Today we had a great performance, but that’s part of the past.”
The Italian-Brazilian coach had words of courage for goalscorer Koopmeiners, who found the back of the net for the first time since the beginning of December last year.
“Koopmeiners did well and I’m very happy for him, he’s a special guy,” Motta said
“He has a great mentality, it’s a privilege for us to have him. He has to be convinced, confident and accept criticism. He’s doing well and he’ll give us a lot,” he added.
The 27-year-old Netherlands international, who joined Juventus from Atalanta BC for a reported fee of 55 million euros (US$58 million) in August last year, scored his second Serie A goal for the Turin side.
Fourth-placed Juventus host Atalanta, in third place, on Sunday, with three points separating the sides.
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