21 September 2017
It was his killer pass that enabled Mario Mandzukic to nod in the winner against Fiorentina. Add in an impressive all-round display and it's fair to say that Juan Cuadrado left his mark on the match.
“The boss is always telling me to get the balls into the box because we have players like [Gonzalo] Higuain and [Mario] Mandzukic who attack the goal and pose a real threat,” the Colombian revealed after the final whistle. “Luckily it went well today.”
“I'm always looking to improve and I always try to give everything I have for the team, making sure I'm always ready.
“The time will come when other great players like [Federico] Bernardeschi, Douglas Costa or [Marko] Pjaca will be playing instead of me, but we're all in the same boat and we all want to achieve the same things.
“I've never thought about leaving and I'm happy to be part of this team because they believe in me.”
Cuadrado then explained there are advantages to be had from winning games by a small margin.
“It was tough going because Fiorentina are a very good team. They played well and created chances but it's better when you have to dig in to win a game because then it's easier to look at and learn from your mistakes.
“We got the result we wanted; now we must keep knuckling down so that we can win the next one as well.”
Finally, the 29-year-old was asked about Higuain's 'goal drought'.
“Gonzalo is very calm. You get spells when it just won't go in for you but we're all behind him. He's an amazing player and sooner or later he'll start banging them in again as he always has done.”
