Bonucci 'punched' by mental coach

By Football Italia staff

Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci is fired up by getting insulted in the dark and punched in the stomach, said his mental coach.

The Italy and Juve centre-back has for years been working with personal motivator Alberto Ferrarini, who also worked with Alberto Gilardino and Francesco Toldo in the past.

“Over the years I took Bonucci into my basement. Underground. In the dark,” wrote Ferrarini on Facebook.

“There, with a tone anything but kind or sweet, I offended him in every way possible. I judged him. I insulted him.

“If he made even the slightest attempt to glance at me, he’d receive a punch straight to the stomach.

“The objective? To win over judgement, so Leo would always be focused and ignore everything else around him. That’s how I started making him into a soldier.”

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