Montella: “We battled hard and showed courage against the best side in Italy”

Vincenzo Montella has praised the Blucerchiati’s effort in Sunday night’s defeat against Juventus at Marassi, lauding Massimiliano Allegri’s side as the best team in Italy.

“We battled hard and showed real courage,” began Montella, speaking after the game. “We produced a good performance against a great side, the best team in the league. We need to keep working on our playing style but you can see we’re improving, even if we seemed a bit timid at times.”

“The two goals were blackouts,” continued Montella. “We lacked conviction in the first 15 minutes and then Pogba got the breakthrough. It was the same sort of thing with the second goal, which was a shame because it made everything harder.”

Montella also spoke about Antonio Cassano’s performance: “We need players like him. He’s working particularly hard and has improved no end. He’s more mature now – who knows what he could have achieved ten years ago if he had been like this then. Having a family and responsibilities have helped him to get better.”