“Juventus wanted to prove its superiority in Leipzig” down to 10 men

Juventus coach Thiago Motta (Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images)

Thiago Motta praised ten-man Juventus for their comeback win at RB Leipzig. “Negative incidents happen, but what’s important is how you react to them.” “We wanted to prove our superiority on the field.”

It was truly an eventful game in Leipzig as Gleison Bremer and Nico Gonzalez were out injured in the first eleven minutes, then RB Leipzig were leading 2-1 when Michele Di Gregorio was sent off after the hour mark for handling outside the penalty area.

“We still need to understand what happened to Bremer and Nico, they need tests and hope that the problems are not too serious, but it is still too early to tell.”

On the resulting free kick, Douglas Luiz’s handball with his first touch of the ball resulted in a penalty, but the Bianconeri turned the ball around with 10 men still with a brace from Dusan Vlahovic and a solo attempt from Francisco Conceicao.

“We played well in the first half too, even if there were a few technical errors, but when we were reduced to 10 men we did even better,” Thiago Motta told Amazon Prime Video Italia and Sky Sport Italia.

“I think the difference in the second half was that we had more confidence and wanted to prove our superiority on the pitch. The first half was good, but in the second we had to prove that we were superior to our opponents and therefore deserved to win.”

Thiago Motta praises Juventus for their loyalty

When they were tied at 2-2 and still down to 10 points, the coach urged his men on the sideline to keep the pressure on and made only positive substitutions, which encouraged them.

“The courage was shown by my players, not me, so they deserve the recognition.” “The team gave the feeling that they really believed in what we talked about before the game,” continued Motta.

“These players are wearing the jersey of an important club, so that is the mentality they should have. The boys showed their pride and determination to all the staff who work with them, to all the fans who were here tonight and watching at home. We need to convey that desire, commitment and determination.

“I’m happy for the team because it was a difficult game with some negative situations, but we responded very well.”

The goal celebration went a little over the top on the touchline when Thiago Motta revealed he was accidentally hit in the forehead by Federico Gatti’s elbow.

Douglas Luiz continues to struggle at Juventus and a penalty on his first touch of the ball will not help his confidence.

“Negative incidents happen in games, they were really very negative today, but what’s important is how you react to them. We held our heads up, showed the right attitude and those are the fundamentals you need for a team at this level. With this attitude we have proven that we can decide a very, very complicated game.”

Juventus now have six points from two Champions League games under Motta, having beaten PSV Eindhoven 3-1 and now RB Leipzig 3-2 at the Red Bull Arena.

“That’s how we interpreted the game today against a strong opponent who has enthusiasm, young players who want to attack. To compete with them, we knew that the first press was important,” added Thiago Motta.

“Sometimes they hit the ball and were dangerous, other times we tried to stay calm and not let their wingers get behind our full-backs, but for the most part we tried to pass the ball and cause them problems to get a to bring home a positive result.” Result.

“With so much negative happening on the field, the best reaction was to be so positive, fight back and keep going.”