Valencia ‘do not fear’ Cristiano Ronaldo and ‘have the capability of defeating’ Juventus in Wednesday night’s clash, says Coach Marcelino.
The Portuguese forward will be looking to add to his 15 career goals he has accumulated against Los Che in his career in the two’s Champions League group opener at the Mestalla.
“Juventus are the best team in Italy without any doubt,” Marcelino told his pre-match press conference on Tuesday.
“The results say so, both locally and in Europe. I don’t think there’s a country where all its teams play the same way. Everyone has their own style.
“Juventus are a competitive, winning team, who use their resources to the fullest and manage to win their League with ease.
“They’re a great team, with tradition and history, and they’re a candidate to win the Champions League.
“Allegri is a Coach who’s been in the Champions League for nine straight seasons. That speaks for itself.
“He’s one of the best Coaches in European football, even if almost everyone agrees that players are the most important part of a team.
“Our mentality means we play to win every game. We’ll never give up on anything. We’re here to compete, win and overcome our group.
“We hope to beat Juventus. After that, we’ll think about the next game. We’ve faced Cristiano Ronaldo several times before and suffered against him, but fear isn’t an appropriate emotion.
“We’re not afraid to work and we’ll try to limit him as much as possible. For me it’s a privilege to face Juve as the Coach of Valencia after many years and many games.
“However, it’ll be just another match for us and we’ll have the same focus as always to win. I’m only concerned about us approaching the game in the right way.
“If we sin, it’ll be for too much, not too little. We’re waiting for kick-off and we’re convinced we can compete until the end against Juve.
“We always analyse our opponents and make sure that their many strong points don’t leave us exposed.
“We’ll try to take advantage of their mistakes, but we must be ready not to make any mistakes of our own.
“We have to make things difficult for their defence, even if it won’t be easy.”
