‘Juventus deserve CL’

By Football Italia staff

Douglas Costa insists “Juventus deserve the Champions League”, and on a personal level winning it would be “a dream come true”.

The Bianconeri haven’t won the trophy since 1996, losing five finals since then, including two in the past three years.

“No-one wants to lose two finals,” the winger admitted, speaking to UEFA’s official website.

“Juventus deserve to win the Champions League. That’s why we’ll do everything and always fight at our best.

“I think every great club dreams of winning the Champions League, and we’re no exception. We’re working hard every day to win every competition in which we’re competing.

“We’re in the Champions League, and we want to win it. Winning the Champions League would be a dream come true, a dream I’ve had since the start of my career.”

Juve face Tottenham in the competition tonight, in the first leg of their Last 16 tie.

“Tottenham have so much quality, it’ll be a beautiful challenge. They’re playing really well in the Premier League and in the Champions League.

“It’ll be a clash of the titans, a really fascinating Last 16 clash.

“We can only focus on what [Coach Max] Allegri asks us to do on the pitch, play well tactically, defend and counter-attack well. That’s our spirit, it’s how we’ve been playing for a while now.

“Both when we play in Italy and in the Champions League, we don’t focus too much on the players we face. We only think about the work we have to do as a team.

“We’ve improved tactically, we’re not conceding many goals. We’re on the right track to build a very solid defence.

“It’ll be a 180-minute match and we need to concentrate on not conceding a goal. When our defence is solid, we can counter-attack well and score.

“There were a lot of new players at the beginning but now we are getting to know each other better.

“Now begins another phase of the Champions League, a completely different phase from the group stage.

“Now maths doesn’t come into it, you can’t make calculations.

“It’s important that we win the first leg so that we can go to London with a good result. The return leg will be at Wembley.

“Obviously that’ll be special, playing in the great stadiums is every player’s dream. I won’t deny it’ll be important for me and my career.”

The winger joined on loan from Bayern Munich last summer, a deal which will be made permanent at the end of the season.

“Playing for Juventus is something indescribable, I could not have imagined the love that the fans feel for the players,” Costa said.

“They’re incredible, they transmit their energy to the players on the pitch and that’s how it should always be. It’s fantastic to wear the Juventus shirt.

“I’m very happy here and I hope to stay for many years.

“Munich is colder, though it welcomes Brazilians very well. I feel at home in Italy though.”

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