Thiago Motta: ‘Juventus suffered after missed chances, Yildiz enormous potential’ | OneFootball

Thiago Motta is glad Juventus managed to beat Cagliari despite ‘wasting so many chances and inevitably suffering’ after the break, but outlines the ‘enormous potential’ of Kenan Yildiz.

The Bianconeri were feeling the pressure following their midweek Champions League play-off elimination at the hands of PSV Eindhoven, a fixture that went to extra time.

They struck early in Sardinia, Dusan Vlahovic celebrating his first Serie A start of 2025 by pouncing on the Yerry Mina error to score from the tightest of angles.

After wasting chances to kill off the game, including with Kenan Yildiz and Francisco Conceicao, Juve suffered after the break and held on for the 1-0 win.

“Kenan Yildiz has enormous potential, physicality, technique, he’s a hard worker, puts the effort in to help defensively, he can create important situations taking men on, he certainly needs to improve his finishing as we saw again this evening,” Thiago Motta told DAZN.

“He gets into the box with strong physicality and is sharp, so I like to see him get into the box, that is how you score goals, and it is something we are pushing hard for not just him, but also Francisco Conceicao.

“We had so many chances in the first half, we went into the break knowing that it would be a problem not finishing it off and inevitably we then suffered. With thought that Michele Di Gregorio’s long ball could cause problems over their midfield and also kept possession well, moving it pretty quickly in the first half. We created so much, it’s a pity we only went into half-time leading 1-0,” continued Thiago Motta.

“Maybe we lacked sharpness, because we only played extra time three days ago. When you have a first half like that, you need to score more than one goal. The positive at least is that we were able to keep the clean sheet.”

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Thiago Motta tells Kenan Yildiz where to improve

CAGLIARI, ITALY – FEBRUARY 23: Kenan Ylidiz of Juventus passes the ball during the Serie A match between Cagliari and Juventus at Sardegna Arena on February 23, 2025 in Cagliari, Italy. (Photo by Enrico Locci/Getty Images)

Turkey international coach Vincenzo Montella was in the DAZN studio, so the first topic of discussion was inevitably Kenan Yildiz.

“We often talk about Yildiz and both agree he needs to attack the space more,” added Thiago Motta.

“We show him footage where our striker, Koop and Wes are in the penalty area, but the wingers are not. It is something he needs to improve, because he has enormous potential and also the physical strength to repeatedly make those runs back and forth. He can hit the ball hard too with a great shot that is tough for goalkeepers to predict. We need to keep pushing him, because he is of a high level and can certainly improve more.”

This result means Juventus go two points clear of Lazio in fourth place and are now within eight points of new leaders Inter. Is a Champions League spot still the target or could Thiago Motta aim higher?

“We have to take it one game at a time, especially now that we are getting into the crunch period of the season, it is a very balanced league and we’ve seen the top teams struggle this weekend too.

“We’ve got the Coppa Italia, then the next battle is with Hellas Verona. We’ve got to just keep focusing on one match at a time.”