Thiago Motta insists he is ‘satisfied with the performance’ after Juventus grabbed a 1-1 draw away to Lille, but not the result, even if he saw improvement in the Champions League.
The Bianconeri had gone behind in France to the Jonathan David counter-attack, but managed to claw a point back with the Dusan Vlahovic penalty, earned by a Francisco Conceicao run at Andre.
“We wanted a different result and created the opportunities to get that, but I am happy with the performance. We can improve certain things, but overall I am satisfied with the way the team played,” Thiago Motta told Sky Sport Italia.
“We certainly could’ve done better in the final third, though the quality of our football improved in the second half. It was clear from the start that Juve would defend and try to counter-attack, so we had to stop them doing that. Lille know what they are doing, are full of confidence at the moment, but it was a great performance from my lads.
“Now we have to recover our energy and prepare for the derby.”
Thiago Motta sees Juventus progress
Check the Player Ratings for LOSC 1-1 Juventus
Juventus had numerous scoring opportunities this evening and dominated possession, but failed to find the breakthrough from open play.
At least they are no longer leaking goals with the alarming regularity they have been in Serie A recently, especially since the Gleison Bremer injury.
“Goals come from mistakes and we can cut those down by being more aggressive when we lose the ball. I saw greater balance today, it was tough for us to push through the middle today because Lille were closing up all the spaces, so we had to attack wide with the wingers and also the full-backs overlapping,” added Thiago Motta.
“I am pleased with the performance and our next match is a derby, so we want to play it at our best. I saw good progress.”
It was put to the Juventus coach that this was the second time he had started both Francisco Conceicao and Kenan Yildiz in the Champions League, whereas Thiago Motta tends to resist that pairing in Serie A.
“It is a good observation, I honestly hadn’t noticed that. The two wingers who started were in good form, we knew that we would have to go down the flanks to break Lille down. Kenan and Francisco are very good at taking men on in one-on-one situations to break down teams that are clammed up. I really liked them in the second half, as they were in the right zones to accept the ball and I am glad with what they both did,” concluded Thiago Motta.
Juve now have seven points from four Champions League games, having won the first two, then lost to VfB Stuttgart and drawn at LOSC.