24 October 2016
His 95th-minute shot at the San Siro very nearly nestled into the top corner with what would have been a spectacular equaliser against Milan, but Sami Khedira was not in the mood to linger on Saturday night’s loss, but rather look forward to the opportunity of getting back to winning ways at the first time of asking on Wednesday when the Bianconeri take on Sampdoria at Juventus Stadium.
Assessing his side’s current situation, their season objectives and the imminent return of midfield partner Claudio Marchisio among other topics, here are the German international’s standout quotations from today’s interview with Sky and Mediaset.
San Siro analysis
“It was a shame not to see my shot go in at the very end, but it was a great save from the goalkeeper. We didn’t make the most of the 95 minutes to score, even if we had a goal disallowed which was bad luck. Sometimes these things happen in football.”
Onwards and upwards to Sampdoria
“We’re not happy about losing obviously because we’d like to win every game, but the season is long, we’re only in October and there’s 38 fixtures in total. We’ve analysed our performance and we’ll try to improve next time out. The good thing is that we’ve the chance in just 3-4 days to get a better result, which is what we’re looking to do against Sampdoria on Wednesday.
“Milan have improved a lot since last year and we’ve also seen that Roma and Napoli too are great teams, but when we’re on our game we’re one of the best sides in Europe. It’s our job to show that on the field.”
Pleased to be playing more often
“I’m in good shape after having had a tough time with injuries since 2013 and I only played 25 games last season. This year I’ve changed a few things which help me to feel 100 per cent and I’m very happy to be on the pitch every day to train, raise my game and help the team.”
Buffon and the Ballon d’Or
“Gigi (Buffon) would deserve to win the Ballon d’Or because he’s been performing at a high level for over 20 years and none of the other players have done that, but we also have to take into account that there are many other great candidates for this award such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Neymar to name a few.”
Dybala injury
“It’s a pity to lose Paulo (Dybala). He’s very important for our game. He can score, create chances and has great movement. Thankfully, however, we have a big squad with many options to help make up for his absence in the meantime. I repeat, though, it’s never nice to lose a player to injury.”
Marchisio on the mend
“First and foremost, I’m very happy for him that he’s recovering from this big injury. I know what it’s like to be out of action for a long time. We can’t expect too much too soon, as it’s been six months since he last played a competitive match. We have to help him on the pitch, but we’re very glad to have him back with us.”
Aiming high as always
“Our target is to win every competition in which we take part, starting with the Serie A. That’s our daily work if you will, also the Coppa Italia. The Champions League is a big dream for me, the team and the fans, but we’re in a good position at present, leading the group with two home matches coming up against Lyon and Dinamo Zagreb. As we know from the last year, the dynamics of the tournament completely change with the knockout stages.”
