‘CL the goal for Juventus’

By Football Italia staff

Andrea Agnelli says the Champions League must be the target for Juventus, and aims a jab at Leonardo Bonucci.

The Bianconeri have won the Scudetto for the past six years in a row, but have been beaten in the Champions League final in two of the last three years.

“Legendary pages have been written, but now the horizons must widen,” Agnelli said at the club’s Christmas party.

“Christmas is a moment of reflection, but it won’t be this year because - for the first time in Italy - attentions will be turned to the pitch.

“We’ll stay focused, but inevitably I sometimes look back with pride when thinking about what we’ve done in recent years, thinking of these six consecutive league titles.

“Then with great affection there are also those who shift the balance and are no longer here [it was suggested by some that Bonucci's move to Milan would shift the balance of power in the Rossoneri's favour], but we also have to remember Leo won six Scudetti…

“Thinking about what these lads have done is extraordinary, and that’s how it must be defined. They've written football history.

“When you think of the Juventus of the Quinquennio, of il Grande Torino, it’s impossible not to think of this Juventus, which went even further by writing a page of history.

“We have not one but two monkeys on our back, we know that. And we know that our objectives and our horizons must broaden: the horizon is Europe, we care about that.

“This year we know it’s an objective, while all those years ago it started as a dream. We still harbour a dream, but we know we have our own dimension in Europe.”

Agnelli also attended the Gazzetta dello Sport Awards last night, and in accepting the team of the year prize for Juve, he said something which has been interpreted as a jab at Paulo Dybala.

Pavel Nedved said this week that La Joya had to “make sacrifices” on and off the pitch to truly fulfil his potential.

“Being the Juventus president means having the sweet obsession with victory,” Agnelli said.

“Results like those we have achieved and that we want to continue to obtain are the result of work because talent is not enough.

“The champions who are here today are also taught by Juventus: talent isn’t enough, you need to train”.

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