Sassuolo coach Roberto De Zerbi warns his side that “Juventus have multiple reference points, not just Leonardo Bonucci and Miralem Pjanic."
These teams square off on Sunday at 11.30 GMT, and De Zerbi says the Italian champions are a complete side.
“Juve have everything. You can’t think of taking anything away from them, otherwise you concede more than against other teams," said the coach in his press conference.
Sassuolo coach Roberto De Zerbi warns his side that “Juventus have multiple reference points, not just Leonardo Bonucci and Miralem Pjanic."
These teams square off on Sunday at 11.30 GMT, and De Zerbi says the Italian champions are a complete side.
“Juve have everything. You can’t think of taking anything away from them, otherwise you concede more than against other teams," said the coach in his press conference.
“They have quality in midfield, on the wings and the two defenders construct play with quality and personality. They have strikers that play collectively but can also invent things by themselves.”
Sassuolo lost last weekend to Lazio 2-1 in the dying moments of the game, so was it a bitter defeat for De Zerbi?
“We put in another positive display. I’m sorry because we deserved something more from that game. We could’ve been cannier in some parts, it’s a difficult result to digest. “
De Zerbi was asked on his views of Juventus counterpart Maurizio Sarri who, unlike the Sassuolo man, was never a professional player.
“Being a coach is different from being a player. When a player becomes a coach, he has to put away the presumption of being a player, draw a line underneath and learn to become a coach.
“A coach who has been a player can understand some aspects, some subtleties that a player who hasn’t played wouldn’t understand as quickly, but it’s also true that you don’t have to be a good player to become a great coach, like [Arrigo] Sacchi, and Sarri.”
De Zerbi then said he would like to be able to pick his ideal starting XI with consistency.
“Everything can be improved. We have not been able to find consistency. I would like to have a team that plays 10 times in a row like we did against Lazio, SPAL and Bologna, without any setbacks.
“I think we have demonstrated this season that at times we know how play football.”
De Zerbi was asked if targeting Pjanic and the long passes of Bonucci could effectively neutralise Juventus.
“You always try strategically to take precautions, especially when you come up against these sort of champions. You talk about double registas, but you have to remember that even the full-backs, Alex Sandro and Juan Cuadrado, for example, create a lot. You have to be careful of everything.”