Juventus were ‘nervous’ ahead of Crotone win but Andrea Pirlo vows to ‘fight to the end’ as they bid to win Inter Milan and clinch a 10th straight title after closing the gap to eight points .
- Juventus moved up to third place in the Serie A table after a comfortable win against Crotone
- Andrea Pirlo then insisted his team hadn’t given up on winning the title
- Inter Milan are eight points clear after playing one game more than Juventus
- Pirlo has put recent poor form on edge but is adamant about the quality of his squad
Andrea Pirlo refuses to give up the Serie A title and has promised that his Juventus side will “fight to the end” against Inter and AC Milan.
Monday night’s 3-0 win over Crotone, in which Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice, lifted Juventus into third place.
They remain eight points behind leaders Inter but have one game less and still have to face Antonio Conte’s side before the end of the 2020-21 season.
Andrea Pirlo (right) refuses to admit defeat this season for Juventus in the hunt for the Serie A title
Antonio Conte (right) took Inter Milan to the top and they are now favorites
Juventus are eight points behind Conte’s Inter but still have one game to play
“All those behind Inter are antagonists, we are one of them and we will fight until the end,” said Pirlo Sky Sport Italy after the victory at Crotone.
Juventus are struggling with a growing injury list and their recent poor form, which saw them lose 2-1 to Porto in the first leg of their Round of 16 tie against Porto, has undermined confidence.
“We started a bit nervous, maybe the last defeats made us nervous,” said Pirlo.
“Then the goals helped us and gave us peace of mind.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a brace as Juventus cruised to a 3-0 home win over Crotone
The Portuguese star opened the scoring for Juventus with a superb header in the 38th minute
“The rest we managed well. The start was not the best, the important thing was to get the three points.
Inter took control of the title race after their comprehensive win over AC Milan in the Derby della Madonnina and Juventus needed a win to keep the pressure on their northern rivals.
“It was a very important game for us,” midfielder Aaron Ramsey told JTV.
“We needed the three points. It was important to play an attacking game, to create a lot of chances and even to finish without conceding.
“It was important to get back to winning ways. In the Champions League we were very unhappy with the result and therefore we are happy to have achieved this victory.
“It was also important given the other results over the weekend.”
Aaron Ramsey made no secret of how important the locker room was to beat Crotone
Juventus have enjoyed an unprecedented level of success in recent years having won nine successive Serie A titles.
Conte, now in charge of Inter, launched this era of dominance in Turin and Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon insisted he was not surprised his former coach had built such a side again strong, this time with Inter.
“It’s certainly no surprise,” said the legendary goalkeeper.
“I was surprised not to see them show the quality of their coach and their team. They have a value equal to ours, at least.
Juventus have another chance to keep the pressure on with a trip to face Hellas Verona on Saturday night while title rivals Inter host Genoa on Sunday and AC Milan face a tricky trip to the Stadio Olimpico to face Roma.
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