Nesta: Juve effective, Napoli beautiful

By Football Italia staff

Alessandro Nesta hails Napoli's aesthetically pleasing style of play, but insists that Juventus are 'more effective'.

The former Milan defender is now Coach at NASL club Miami FC, who are pushing for promotion to the MLS.

"The goal is to win the championship," Nesta said in an interview with Extratime.

"We have a good team and the title could mean we could even fill the stadium with 15,000 season ticket holders.

"My other goal is to learn. This is a school, it’s my first experience: my apprenticeship.

"I have a new team and we have to create a methodology of work and when an important occasion comes it will be vital to be ready. If you come from Italy, there may be opportunities here in the US.

"Again, you just have to prepare yourself to be ready. The bare bones are to work and learn in order not to be disappointed in the future."

Returning to matters in Italy, Nesta gave his thoughts on Juventus as they push towards a sixth-consecutive Scudetto and a Champions League semi-final.

"The Bianconeri continue to be the strongest. They have money and they know how to spend it: they are good at planning.

"Even when they sell an excellent player like Pogba, they have made exactly the right steps to reinforce.

"Napoli? A passing style like that of Sarri is aesthetically beautiful to look at: a style of play that can not fail to captivate. And his ideas are now followed by several colleagues.

"But Juve practice a more effective football. And in the long-run this will always bring a Scudetto win. I'm a Coach and these are just points of view, of course. In Italy, as in previous years, we see a greater number of good matches."

Can the Bianconeri pull off a Champions League win?

"Yes. But if they do, I will be a little surprised. They are equipped to try, however.

"And I rarely see other teams with defenders that are so good, a good midfield and an attack with [Gonzalo] Higuain. I really like the mix at that back: the veterans [Leonardo] Bonucci, [Giorgio] Chiellini, [Medhi] Benatia and the student [Daniele] Rugani. He has an unmissable opportunity to learn from the greats. Just like what happened to me at Milan.

"The first time I found myself inside the Bernabeu I was extremely emotional, I turned around and saw the reassuring faces of [Paolo] Maldini and [Alessandro] Costacurta: those looks were enough to teach you how to deal with certain situations.

"Barcelona have those three monsters up front that can score at any time. But behind they are vulnerable. And we have seen in Turin. I’ll say something obvious: they must absolutely contain them with good defensive play. Then something will happen."

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