Mattia Perin warns Juventus must learn to start strong and not ‘wait until we are cornered’ to give their best after a Coppa Italia thriller with Lazio.
The Bianconeri had a comfortable 2-0 first leg advantage in the semi-final, but that evaporated after 49 minutes thanks to a pair of Taty Castellanos goals on Luis Alberto assists.
The tie was heading towards extra time until Arkadiusz Milik came off the bench and tapped in the ball from his fellow substitute Timothy Weah for a 2-1 defeat on the night, qualifying 3-2 on aggregate.
“Before the game, I said that nothing is achieved without sacrifice and suffering, which is what the coach always tells us. We are used to that and I knew we could do it,” Perin told Sport Mediaset.
“I know that when we are cornered, we drag the best out of ourselves and I am proud to have qualified. Mind you, perhaps we should start learning not to leave it until we are cornered to give our best.”
Perin picked for Final?
It comes just days after Juventus fought back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 in Serie A away to relegation-threatened Cagliari.
Wojciech Szczesny was the goalkeeper for that match, albeit with a broken nose, but Perin has been used throughout the Coppa Italia campaign.
Will the Italian also be picked for the Final against either Atalanta or Fiorentina at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on May 15?
“That is a decision the coach has to make. I do my best when I am called upon and try to give my contribution even when I do not play. Juventus is bigger than all of us.”
The second semi-final is tonight at 20.00 UK time (19.00 GMT), where Atalanta try to overturn a 1-0 deficit against Fiorentina in Bergamo.