02 May 2021
A late brace from Cristiano Ronaldo earned Juventus a comeback win away at Udinese. With this precious victory, the Bianconeri go level with Atalanta and Milan on 69 points. Andrea Pirlo and Leonardo Bonucci had this to say after the contest in a rainy Udine:
ANDREA PIRLO
“We earned this win with effort and pride, and it’s a very important one given the other results this afternoon. We made life difficult for ourselves with a lack of focus, but we then showed great desire to get the result – we saw that desire right until the very end, which is absolutely crucial. We know that we have to qualify for the Champions League at all costs. We’ve got a team here – they’re strong and want to fight to reach their targets. They’re united, as shown by that embrace at the end, but this has to be a starting point because we have several important games still to play. My congratulations to Inter and [Antonio] Conte – they had a great season and they deserved it. For us, a cycle of nine straight league titles comes to an end and another one begins. We want to fight for the Scudetto again.”
LEONARDO BONUCCI
“We picked up all three points today but this season is far from over – if we content ourselves with these 10 minutes, it means we’ve not got the message. We have to find the strength to reach the goal of Champions League qualification and bring home the Coppa Italia. Games are decided by moments – an early incident saw us give away a goal and the same happened to them. After so many games you have to keep your focus in those moments and on the details, which have cost us many points. This was a game we had to win. We didn’t come under too much pressure, but we were always missing something – that’s what we showed in the last 10 minutes and which helped us secure the win. On Inter’s Scudetto victory, I say congratulations to them – they were the most consistent team and have shown they're the strongest side this year. Today, however, another chapter begins and we must have the strength and hunger to take back what we held for nine years. Juve always rise again and today we showed that.”
