Gonzalo Villar stands by Roma coach Paulo Fonseca and expects an intriguing battle with Juventus today. ‘We mustn’t get intimidated.’

It kicks off at 17.00 GMT, click here for a match preview.

“I feel like I’m in the best period of my career,” the 22-year-old Spanish midfielder told AS.

Gonzalo Villar stands by Roma coach Paulo Fonseca and expects an intriguing battle with Juventus today. ‘We mustn’t get intimidated.’

It kicks off at 17.00 GMT, click here for a match preview.

“I feel like I’m in the best period of my career,” the 22-year-old Spanish midfielder told AS.

“The team is ready to face Juventus, as we’re back to being ourselves again after some difficult weeks. I see the side in great shape psychologically, we got back to winning ways, to playing our football, all elements we were missing in the two previous defeats.

“We’ve worked hard on our tactics and Juve’s weaknesses, although there aren’t many of them. We are third in Serie A and deserve to be there, so even if Juve are strong, we mustn’t get intimidated, but rather lift our own level.”

Coach Paulo Fonseca clashed with Edin Dzeko last month and is back on the bench for the first time, but the rest of the squad seems to stand with the tactician.

“I don’t think I should be talking about that. Our director Tiago Pinto already discussed it. Roma are a family, so the dressing room and all levels of the club are working together.

“Possession is the basis for our style of football and that’s why I decided to commit to this project,” continued Villar.

“Juventus also want to see a lot of the ball and have the players to win it back, so I believe it’ll be a great battle for control.

“So far we’ve been impeccable most of the time, but when it comes to direct rivals for the top spots, we need to rely more on our own identity, as that is what takes you to victory.

“We did very well against Inter, also Milan and Juventus in the first half of the season, but we are missing a few wins against the bigger clubs to boost our confidence and prove we can be up there at the top.”

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