Yildiz and Thuram: ‘Juventus must have belief, special Spalletti celebration’
Kenan Yildiz insists he is happy to play anywhere for Juventus, while Khephren Thuram explained the special Luciano Spalletti celebration. ‘We’ve got to believe in ourselves.’
The Bianconeri had been showing some good performances and spirit to fight back from difficult situations, but hadn’t celebrated a Serie A victory since February 1.
They ended a run of two points from four rounds, along with Champions League and Coppa Italia elimination, by sweeping Pisa aside 4-0 in Turin.
It took a while to break the newly-promoted strugglers down, then the floodgates opened with Andrea Cambiaso, Thuram, Kenan Yildiz and Jeremie Boga on target.
Juventus back on track in Serie A
“I am happy for the victory, as we did well in the first half too, but much better in the second half. I believe we had some very good performances in recent games, we didn’t manage to win them, but are on the right track,” Yildiz told Sky Sport Italia.
Yildiz had not found himself on the scoresheet since January 25, so this was a significant breakthrough for the Turkish talent, along with his assist for Cambiaso’s header.
The breakthrough seemed to be when Jonathan David was substituted by Boga, moving Yildiz to a False 9 role.
“I am here to help the team, it doesn’t matter where, if the coach tells me to play centre-forward or on the left, that’s fine. I had some knocks today, including on my head, it hurt a bit, but I’m fine,” smiled Yildiz.
Today was coach Spalletti’s birthday, and after the Thuram goal, the players ran over to hug the tactician on the touchline.
“I am not exactly a hitman, but it is good to score goals and it was a little gift for the coach to celebrate his birthday,” Thuram told Sky Sport Italia.
It seems as if the race for a top four finish will go down to the wire, as Como won today away to Cagliari to stay in fifth place.
“We believe, because we’ve got the team that can do it, so we must have belief. That’s where it all starts, we want to get into the Champions League and we’ve got to believe in ourselves.”