After the win away in Norway over Valerenga saw the Juventus Women's First Team start their Women's Champions League group stage in the best possible way, attention swiftly turned back to domestic duties with the Bianconere taking on Roma on Matchday 6 of Serie A.
It will be a special occasion for the Bianconere, and Italian women's football, with the game set for the Allianz Stadium at 15:30 CEST on Sunday, 13 October.
Looking ahead to the game, coach Massimiliano Canzi shared his thoughts.
THE WIN IN NORWAY
“More than the result, I’m really pleased with how compact we were at the back when defending our lead. We take a lot from it because we can’t always dominate games, in general but even more so in Europe. In those games when you suffer, you have to do it together. Maybe we weren’t as good as we might have been at closing the game out, and we have a couple of chances that we could have made more of.”
SOFIA CANTORE'S SEASON SO FAR
“Sofia [Cantore] isn’t somebody that I myself have discovered, she’s a player with room for improvement who is playing really well. She’s scoring a lot but she’s also giving a lot to the team. She sacrifices a lot and she is proof that giving your all without the ball doesn’t take away from the offensive phase of the game. I have to say, as well, that all the girls are giving a lot in this respect.”
ROMA
“Roma have won the last two Serie A titles and as a result are the favourites. We’re all racing against them. Every team has a tough period during the season, and they’ve already overcome theirs and they did it with a great result in the Champions League against a team who, on paper, are of a higher level. We have a lot of respect for them, for what they’ve done, and for what they’re doing. They play a system they’ve been working on for years, they have a coach in Alessandro Spugna who knows women’s football really well and with whom I’ve been friends for 15 years. He’s a very good coach who, we shouldn’t forget, developed right here at Juventus.”
PLAYING AT THE ALLIANZ STADIUM
“It will feel different at the Allianz Stadium, and some of the girls have done it already. Others won’t have though, and the same applies to Roma. Of course it’s a situation that neither team is used to. We’ll have to prepare for the game in the best way we can, and to adapt to all of the situation that may arise during the game and be flexible to change when we need to. This time, though, it’ll be harder to be heard by the girls on the pitch [laughs].”