Pierre Kalulu explains the importance of ‘freedom’ at Juventus under Thiago Motta after the victory over Lazio. ‘We are professionals, but also allowed to express ourselves and enjoy football.’
This was a head-to-head for position in the Serie A table, as the two teams went into the weekend together on 13 points.
It was a surprisingly hard-fought affair considering Alessio Romagnoli was sent off after just 24 minutes for his mistimed tackle from behind on Kalulu, just outside the penalty area.
“I was already thinking about how to shoot and score, but I was interrupted,” Kalulu told Sky Sport Italia.
Did the versatile central defender expect to find himself running onto that first-time Dusan Vlahovic pass to go clear on goal so early into the game?
“We had prepared this movement in training, to open up the spaces and run into the gap when they opened up. We try to defend as a unit and attack as a unit, so I saw the gap and went for it.”
Kalulu relishing life at Juventus
Despite being against 10 men, Juve struggled to break Lazio down and rarely tested Ivan Provedel, eventually breaking through only with a Mario Gila own goal from Juan Cabal’s cross.
“Even down to 10 men, Lazio remain a very well-organised team and they closed the spaces down. We can do better on a technical level than we did this evening, but we knew Lazio were very tough to break down.”
The defender is on loan from Milan with an option to buy and was asked what he most appreciates about working with Thiago Motta after difficulties at San Siro.
“We must give our all in both training and during the match, but we are also given freedom to make our decisions and try things. We are professionals, but are also allowed to express ourselves and enjoy our football.”