Juventus midfielder Manuel Locatelli took great pleasure in his team’s much-needed victory over Manchester City on Wednesday night.
The Bianconeri won their first two Champions League contests this season over PSV Eindhoven and RB Leipzig, but were slipping in the standings after failing to beat Stuttgart, Lille and Aston Villa in their next three outings.
Therefore, Thiago Motta’s men almost had their back against the wall, but have now significantly improved their status by overcoming the struggling Premier League giants who have been on a miserable run as of late.
For his part, Locatelli produced a superb showing. He took charge in the middle of the park, controlling Juve’s tempo while valiantly shielding the backline.
Therefore, the former Sassuolo man was ecstatic with the result as well as the performance, describing it as Juve’s best victory this year.
“I’m very happy, we deserved the win after a performance like this one,” said the Italy international in his post-match interview with Prime Video via IlBianconero.
Locatelli charges Juventus fans at Allianz Stadium
“The victory belongs to everyone, we played a beautiful match and we have to go to bed happy.
“For us, it’s the victory of the year. We talked to each other, we threw away points in the league and we had to play all the games like this. We deserved a night like this.”
Locatelli was also humble in victory, heaping praise on Erling Haaland who found little joy against the Bianconeri defenses.
“He’s an incredible player, if you leave him half a space he scores. So I tried to always stay close to him. We have to be happy, it’s a great victory.
Finally, the 26-year-old urges his teammates to keep their heads in the game and consider this result a launching pad.
“We can’t get our attitude wrong, we have to start again from this win, from this desire to sacrifice ourselves. All together, like a great team.”