Football

Pirlo pleased as Juventus make Coppa Italia progress

Juventus' Italian coach Andrea Pirlo reacts during the Italian Serie A football match Juventus vs Atalanta on December 16, 2020 at the Juventus stadium in Turin. (Photo by Marco BERTORELLO / AFP)

Juventus’ Italian coach Andrea Pirlo reacts during the Italian Serie A football match Juventus vs Atalanta on December 16, 2020 at the Juventus stadium in Turin. (Photo by Marco BERTORELLO / AFP)

Andrea Pirlo has revealed that Juventus had no option but to forget about their Serie A defeat to Inter ahead of their Coppa Italia semi-final.
Juventus progressed to the semis following a 4-0 thrashing of SPAL in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.
They will face Inter in a two-legged semi-final, having fallen to the Nerazzurri less than a fortnight ago in Serie A.But Pirlo said Juve – who reached the Coppa semi-finals for the eighth time in 10 seasons – had moved on from that encounter.
“We forgot the game in Milan [against Inter] because it was in the league,” the Juve head coach told a news conference.
“Next week we are going to play Coppa Italia semi-final so we will face them keen to qualify to the final. These two games are completely different.
“We have to cancel the game played last Sunday, but we have to prepare well for the semi-final.”
Alvaro Morata, Gianluca Frabotta, Dejan Kulusevski and Federico Chiesa scored in Juve’s resounding win over SPAL.
Morata joined Cristiano Ronaldo, Romelu Lukaku and Ciro Immobile as one of four Serie A players to have been involved in 20-plus goals in all competitions this season (13 goals and seven assists).
Meanwhile, Gianluigi Buffon started and kept a clean sheet, making one save, and Pirlo said he hoped there was more to come from the 43-year-old.
“It’s a pleasure having Gigi in the team. It’s a pleasure to see him training every day like a young player. This is the most important thing,” he said.
“When you have that energy you can keep on [playing], otherwise you need to find something else to do. When we were playing together, I didn’t expect he could have so long a career. He had serious injuries to his back and shoulder but he’s been really focused to his body and he worked more than when he was young. That’s why he has had this long career.
“He will play again this season because he showed he is still one of the best goalkeepers in the world. I hope we can enjoy him for more time.”