Szczesny: ‘Juve teammates supported me, we want to close the group’

Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny said he had ‘the support of the team’ during the difficult start to the season. ‘We want to close the group’.

Szczesny spoke at a press conference ahead of the third match in the Champions League against Zenit St Petersburg and hopes to see the Bianconeri continue the positive form.

Juventus are unbeaten in seven games across all competitions and have won both games in Group H without conceding.

Rumours in Italy suggested Juventus were looking to replace Szczesny, but the Poland international said he never felt like he was leaving the Allianz Stadium.

“We need to have the same spirit from the last games,” Szczesny said at a press conference. “Spirit of sacrifice, a compact team.

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“This has allowed us to change the results lately. When a player goes through a difficult time, you have to shut up and work. I did it and I also had the support of the team. Now I’m moving on. In the summer, I never felt far away from Juventus.”

Szczesny said Juventus are focused on the first task in hand and want to secure a place in the knockout stages of the Champions League as soon as possible.

“Now we focus on the match against Zenit, so we can think about closing the group, then we’ll see in February.”

Massimiliano Allegri said Szczesny, Leonardo Bonucci and Matthijs de Ligt are the only three players confirmed for the starting line-up tomorrow.

The 31-year-old goalkeeper arrived at Juventus in July 2017 and has since played 28 times in the Champions League with the Bianconeri and has kept 12 clean sheets in the process.