What kind of game is tomorrow’s [Galatasaray-Juventus]?
CONTE: It’s a game that’ll determine who’s in & who’s out and it’s not the first like this that we’ve played this season. I hope to play more like this one in the future.
You’ll find a pretty heated atmosphere…
BUFFON: I’ll repeat what I said last year; I’ve never seen a fan score a goal. If that were to happen, they’d have to disallow the goal, so in that side of things we’re pretty serene, but I also believe that a lot will depend on how we react as well as our approach the difficult ground we’re visiting, similarly to Glasgow last season.
Gigi [Buffon], before the final against Spain in the Euros, you said “The strongest team don’t always win, sometimes the victors are those who’re better.” How does it feel to be the strongest? Are you afraid of not being the better side?
BUFFON: The difference to me, is that here [against Galatasaray] we would still be fine with 2 out of 3 outcomes, and in this game this is a great advantage. It means that if the games remains at a draw someone – and probably not us [Juventus] – will have to push for the result possibly risking to open themselves up. So in that sense, it’s a bit different.
To Conte, in this stage of the season do you need to hammer the boys more or let loose a little?
CONTE: I try to be a coach not a utensil.
Chances on advancing to the next round?
CONTE: It’s at 50/50, though I hope the better side will finish as victors.
In the league Buffon hasn’t conceded in 7 games, but against Galatasaray he’ll be faced against champions like Sneijder & Drogba…
BUFFON: When you’re competing at these high levels, you’ll always come against players of great quality, so I always risk conceding goals. Galatasaray have international quality players who could cause us trouble, the important part is finding a solution.
CONTE: Players like Drogba & Sneijder are always prone to causing trouble, we’ll have to be very careful the entire game.
Does you having a favourable position before the game start put your team at ease?
CONTE: We’re not going to allow ourselves to let 2 positive results out of 3 condition how we play. We will play our usual game. Having enough points mathematically is not how we approach our games. Our mentality is: we try and win as always.
Mancini is having a few hiccups at Galatasaray…
CONTE: Mancini has only recently joined Galatasaray, and it always takes time to get settled and instill your ideals on a team. Mancini is a good coach and Galatasaray are in good hands. As they were with Terim.
You will be without Pirlo once again…
CONTE: Unfortunately we’ll be missing Pirlo again, but we managed without him against Udinese and Bologna. Against Galatasaray we’ll have to do even better!