Marchisio's Goal Against Napoli Came At The Right Time For Juventus - Ranieri

Marchisio's Goal Against Napoli Came At The Right Time For Juventus - Ranieri

After the 1-0 victory against Napoli, Juventus coach Ranieri talked about his team's performance, focusing on the return of Sebastian Giovinco, and hopes Nicola Legrottaglie's injury isn't serious.

With the 1-0 home victory against Napoli tonight, Juventus were able to put some pressure on league leaders Inter, even though they are still six points away with a game in hand. Following the match, coach Claudio Ranieri gave an interview to Sky.

"Today it was important to win after the defeat in the Champions League [to Chelsea]. It wasn't easy to find back the concentration and determination," he said. "The lads played an excellent first half, but then Napoli came out, losing their initial nervousness.

"They closed down all the spaces and it was hard to counter-attack: [Claudio] Marchisio's goal at the end of then first half came at the right time, we built our victory on that."

On starlet Sebastian Giovinco, who made a rare start in this match, Ranieri said: "He has played almost everywhere this season, he has played both on the wing and in the centre in the 4-4-2, sometimes he's better in the centre. But since I didn't have [Pavel] Nedved available I thought it was right to play him."

He also commented on the condition of defender Nicola Legrottaglie, who suffered an injury during the match: "He told me he turned his knee, we'll see tomorrow what comes out of it, but it didn't look good and I had to replace him immediately. Let's hope it's nothing, we already have too many injuries."

The coach also had a few quick words for next week's return leg against Chelsea in the Champions League, following the 1-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge: "We know it will be difficult, we know we lost 1-0, but we will give everything: we will have to leave the pitch tired and with our heads held high. Only that way we will accept any result."

Danilo Pochini, Goal.com