Torino will play against Lazio on Sunday as they begin, what seems to be, the hardest part of the first half of the season where they will be facing Lazio, Parma, Atalanta, HJK Helsinki and Roma in 16 days, and Matteo Darmian had the chance to talk about his excitement and focus for the upcoming game.
The Granata faced HJK Helsinki on the Europa League Thursday night where the Italian club defeated the Finns 2-0 and positioned themselves top of Group B with seven points, almost guarantying their qualification for the next round only missing arithmetic assurance.
After the victory against HJK Helsinki, Darmian answered some questions during the press conference and looked determined ahead of the weekend game against Lazio: “I certainly am glad to be the first in the standings and this leads us to address self-esteem, for example, Sunday’s game against Lazio will not be an easy game. Playing in the international field always has its charm and we always try to give the best in the league.”
The Italian player stated he has no pressure on scoring as long as his work helps the team: “I hope it arrives soon and that [Cristian] Molinaro returns me the favour.
“But in all seriousness, I hope to score soon, it would be the icing on the cake. But that’s okay though because assisting means I allow my teammates to score and get the points.”
As for the challenging period where they will be facing Lazio, Parma, Atalanta, HJK Helsinki and Roma in the next upcoming weeks, the full-back preferred to take it game by game.
“Yes, there will be many close games and we will be good also to manage the forces and try to recover as soon as possible. Certainly winning in the Europa League shows we are in good shape, but there are still three games and we have to make more points if we want to go through, we are aware of it.
“That win will be forgotten immediately because on Sunday we will have a very important game against a very tough Lazio, who is in shape and has quality players and we are aware of it. Certainly in the few days ahead of us we will try to prepare in the best way before we play in the Olimpico.”
Torino are four points behind Lazio in the Italian league standings, and the team is looking to close the gap as they face this Sunday at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
