17 December 2024
On the eve of the Juventus Women’s First Team’s final Women’s Champions League fixture of the season against Valerenga, coach Massimiliano Canzi was joined by midfielder Eva Schatzer for the traditional pre-match press conference. Kick-off is set for 21:00 CET on Wednesday, 18 December in Biella.
Below is the pick of what Canzi and Schatzer had to say.
EVA SCHATZER
“This first part of the season has been really positive on a personal level. I’m very happy on a collective level too because we’ve had a good start. We want to continue along these lines and to close out 2024 with a win in Europe.
“Playing in the Champions league is always special, even if we’re no longer able to qualify for the knockout rounds. Personally, I take a lot from these games and I think our squad has an added value because of the number of young players we have.
“I spent a year in Genoa with Sampdoria and it was a great year for me because it allowed me to grow a lot. Upon returning to Juventus I’ve had the chance to play a lot, and I have to thank the coach for that, because he has always shown his faith in me from the first day and feeling this trust in me has allowed me to express myself on the pitch.
“Everybody in the squad has helped me and continue to do so on a daily basis, and that’s hugely important for me. There’s a great mix here of more experienced players and younger players, the former transmit the values of the club to us and we try to take that in and bring a bit of freshness. [Arianna] Caruso, [Martina] Rosucci and [Barbara] Bonansea have helped me a lot, but the others all have too. We’re a really good group.”
MASSIMILIANO CANZI
“Seeing players develop, on an individual level as well as the collective, is one of the greatest satisfactions a coach can have, and I’m really proud of what I’ve seen here. I’ll add that, when speaking about individual growth, the cretic should be shared among the staff as well, because when worked is focused more on the individual the attention to detail of the staff becomes all the more important and precise, so I have to extend thanks and congratulations to all of the staff here.
“This experience in Europe has been stimulating. We know that we’ve had difficulty because in Europe the level is very high and we’ve come up against opponents of a really impressive level, but we’ve never taken the field with our heads down. We’ve always given everything we have, in every game, and we’ll always take that with us.
“It’s hard to say which game I would choose if I could play one of the European games again, because they’ve all been defined by episodes. But I’m convinced that the first game against Bayern Munich was one that we were very well prepared for, we played well in, and we lost because of a couple of moments. We could say the same thing about the game against Arsenal. Of course we can’t play those games again, but I have to say that we approached them in the right way.
“On Wednesday’s game, Valerenga are a tough team. The first game against them was evenly balanced, and we edged it. They’re dangerous in attack, they have three really top-level players who can do damage, and they’re strong on set pieces as well. We have a lot of respect for them, and they showed their level in the games against Arsenal and Bayern Munich as well.
“In football, beyond individual quality, the value of the group is massive. From my first day here the team have always shown an incredibly unity and togetherness. We’re a big family, and there are no cliques in the group, we are all one group. This team has always put the collective ahead of the individual, and this is something that makes me very proud.”
