Buffon: «Now down with the Coppa Italia»

The championship seems to be decided. The ten point margin from Inter remained the same even after the direct encounter with just 6 matches to go. The season, however, is far from over. Especially for those who still have objectives to reach which in the case of the bianconeri are more then one. If the second place means qualification to the Champions League without the need of preliminaries and an improvement on last year, the Coppa Italia would be an important trophy to add to the cupboard.

The Coppa Italia has regained the people’s interest thanks to the new formula after years in which it was considered as being of secondary importance. This is not only due to the fact that 2 of the semi-finalists are Juventus and Inter. On Wednesday and Thursday the names of the two teams in the final to meet in Rome in May will be known: Bianconeri and Lazio on one side and nerazzurri and Samp on the other.

Ranieri’s team on Wednesday must turn around the 2-1 defeat suffered away at the Rome Olimpico. The idea of adding the 10th Coppa Italia to the trophy cupboard is a stimulus for all, including Gigi Buffon: «There was a time when teams tried to avoid playing in this competition at all costs but now it has been given a new lustre and more attention is being given in order to win it. We want to win it even because we do not want to ruin months of work in 20 odd days. For this reason, we also want to finish the championship in the best of manners».

Juventus are approaching the match against Lazio after a draw against Inter which did not affect the table but which was definitely useful for the morale and even for self-esteem: «A draw could be ok when you consider the opponent – continued Buffon -. Surely we’re not jumping with joy because we know that we could only keep the title race open by winning, but the two matches against Inter showed that we are not inferior. Pity we paid for slight slips. With more attention especially in the last matches, we might have been speaking differently now».

The number one analyzed the point margin between the two rivals: «Our team is capable of competing with anyone on a do or die basis when the nervous level is at 120% but in a whole season certain negative periods can occur. Inter has a superior squad compared to ours and their technical baggage allowed them to come out even of those moments».

Yesterday’s match against the nerazzurri left also two topics which Buffon was asked to express his opinion about: Balotelli and the duel with Julio Cesar. «Balotelli is a youngster who has great capabilities and is also a nice person but I hope there is room for improvement character-wise. Having said this racist chants are bad no matter what. The comparisons to Julio Cesar I find ridiculous. He has been better then all the rest of us in the past few months and therefore I congratulate him but I don’t think that the accusations against me are correct because I do not think that to praise one you must criticize the other. If Julio Cesar is playing at this level it does not mean that I’m not playing well».

juventus.com