JUVENTUS, Buffon: "We’ll stick to our task"

© foto di Giuseppe Celeste/Image Sport

Juventus captain Gigi Buffon met the media this afternoon ahead of the 25th Italian Super Cup final, to be played on Saturday night at the ‘Bird’s Nest’ in Beijing.

The goalkeeper began by commenting on the news surrounding the acquittals of Leonardo Bonucci and Simone Pepe, and the suspensions handed to Antonio Conte and his assistant Angelo Alessio.

“I’m happy for both Simone and Leo, they’re good friends of mine,” stated Gigi. “I also have a great relationship with the manager, having been his team-mate in the past. I’d like to compliment Simone and Leo for being able to come through the kind of pressure they’ve been under with great courage. Leonardo had an excellent European Championship and showed himself to be a strong man. As far as the manager’s concerned, I believe the desire to fight is in his DNA.”

When asked if the current off-field events would serve as an extra motivation to the side, the 34-year-old was characteristically honest in his response.

“When similar things happen - that should disrupt an environment - we Italians love saying that we perform better. I personally fail to believe that such circumstances can help a team or an individual player. Having said that, we’re completely calm and we want to stick to our task – winning the cup. We go into the game on the back of the Coppa Italia defeat and it’s never nice to lose in a final.”

Gigi missed out on the 2-0 friendly win over Malaga after feeling a twinge in the warm-up, but insists he is in great shape for tomorrow’s battle with Napoli.

“I’m fine. I only missed two days of training following a minor setback and my physical condition has remained excellent.