Juric: ‘An important win, Belotti is not a problem’

Torino coach Ivan Juric was pleased with the ‘important’ 3-2 win over Genoa on Friday and stressed captain Andrea Belotti is ‘not a problem, but a resource’ for the Granata.

Belotti started on the bench next to Dennis Praet, but both entered during the second half to make an impact at the Grande Torino.

The Italy international has been injured for most of the campaign but has been writing headlines in Italy due to his contractual situation in Turin.

Juric was asked about Belotti’s moment and stressed he’s ‘not a problem’ for the Granata camp.

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“He’s not a problem, he’s a resource,” Juric told DAZN after the match. “[Antonio] Sanabria scored goals and made assists today, the Gallo was the same two-three years ago. He had a different leg compared to the last match.

“A normal team must have two interchangeable forwards.”

Praet started on the bench despite having recovered in time and Juric admitted he didn’t want to risk anything.

“We didn’t want to risk him from the start, but he did well,” Juric said. “We must improve the fluidity of the game, technical cleverness in certain situations.”

Antonio Sanabria and Tommaso Pobega gave Torino a two-goal cushion at the break, but Genoa pushed to spoil the party in the second half.

Josip Brekalo’s third goal put the game out of reach for the Grifone, despite the visitors trying to bounce back after goals from Mattia Destro and Felipe Caicedo.

“I’m overjoyed,” Juric told the broadcaster. “We needed a win like this. We came from three or four games where we played well and almost picked up nothing.

“There were times when we could have scored the third goal and we were punished, Genoa are a team that hurts you.

“We need to analyse things well,” he continued regarding the two goals conceded. “They have this ability to score and they have shown it.

“We made some mistakes, we will analyse them, but tonight I want to be more positive.”