Juventus midfielder Claudio Marchisio is more than comfortable that his team have the experience and stamina to cope with the pressure of facing Chelsea in the Champions League.
The two giants meet in Turin on Tuesday in a very tight affair in which the Bianconeri really need to win to qualify for the next round of 16.
“Perhaps Chelsea have greater experience as far as the Champions League is concerned, given that we haven’t played in this competition for a few years,” the midfielder stated.
“However, there are many experienced international players in our squad and we’re prepared.
“We’re possibly approaching this game at the best possible moment, because we reacted well to the defeat against Inter.”
The next two ties against Chelsea and Shakhtar Donetsk see Juve having to claim four points to qualify from their group.
“We’ve ended up in one of the toughest sections of this year’s Champions League and will be facing the defending European champions,” the Italian added.
“They’ve invested a great deal in the summer and bolstered their squad.
“It’s impossible to single out a player to fear though, the squad is their strength and this is precisely what led them to win last season’s trophy.
“We’ve got great respect for Chelsea, but we’ll do all we can to go through.”
The ‘Old Lady’ were held by Lazio on Saturday night in a scoreless draw, but the Italian international is more than confident that his teammates are up to the task.
“Tiredness won’t be an issue. Such big games help you find added energy and anyone would want to be involved in them.
“We’ve not had a lot of time to prepare, but the most important thing is to maintain the same desire displayed against Norsjaelland, Pescara and Lazio.
“Granted, we didn’t win the last game, but the attitude was spot on. We also hope to step out into a red-hot atmosphere at the stadium, because the help of our fans is crucial.”
Marchisio was also asked in his own opinion on why a central striker of high calibre was not signed in the summer which equates to Juve’s problem with strikers as they failed to covert any chances in front of goal against Lazio.
“I don’t think we have a problem in attack. Let us not forget that we are scoring more than we did last season, while we have the best attack and defence in Serie A.”
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