Thiago Motta: ‘Juventus deserved Udinese victory over 95 minutes’ | OneFootball

Thiago Motta was confident that Juventus were the better team and deserving of their 2-0 victory over Udinese over the course of the full 90 minutes, despite his side coming under a bit of pressure in the final quarter of the match.

Juventus rose to an important 2-0 victory over Udinese, who had sat just one place behind the Old Lady at the start of the day. First-half goals from Nicolo Savona and Khephren Thuram, the latter of which actually went down as an own-goal, were enough for Motta’s men to hold onto.

UDINE, ITALY – NOVEMBER 02: Nicolò Savona of Juventus (#37) celebrates scoring his team’s second goal during the Serie A match between Udinese and Juventus at Stadio Friuli on November 02, 2024 in Udine, Italy. (Photo by Timothy Rogers/Getty Images)

Motta: ‘Juventus deserved Udinese victory over 95 minutes’

“It was a team victory, we interpreted the game well,” Motta told DAZN in his post-match interview.  “We could have played even more in the first half, Udinese allowed us to come out on top in the build-up. We had some interesting situations, we lacked a bit of depth.

“Udinese came out confident and had regrouped at the start of the second half. They defended and counter-attacked well. We deserved the victory over the 95 minutes.

The Bianconeri coach was asked about his selections. Juve were able to welcome back Teun Koopmeiners after a few games off, while Khephren Thuram also impressed alongside Manuel Locatelli in midfield.

There was also a change in strikers midway through the second half when Dusan Vlahovic went off.

“We have different players, it’s always important to have diversity in in-game situations. Udinese attacked with lots of numbers, it was natural that they were a bit exposed, and we have Kenan, who is fast, and with Koop, he bothers defenders,” Motta said.

“When the time comes, we will do whatever is best for the team. Today we have to enjoy this important victory, and then recover because it’s the Champions League again on Tuesday, an interesting game against Lille, who have an extra day of recovery.”

Motta also provided an assessment of Thuram’s performance.

“I really liked his game, it was very complete/ He was attentive in defensive phases and had lots of quality in the attack. He’s an interesting guy and he scored a great goal today, but the whole performance was excellent.