Barzagli wants Juve to stay focused

Posted Sunday, January 13, 2013 by ESPN

Despite his team's Serie A lead, Juventus' Andrea Barzagli believes Antonio Conte's squad cannot afford to become complacent.

In addition to building a five point advantage at the top of the Serie A table, Juventus remain in contention for the Champions League after qualifying for the knockout stages and have booked their place in the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia at the expense of rivals AC Milan.

Barzagli told Sky Sport Italia that the Bianconeri cannot afford to take their foot off the pedal now, if they are to achieve their aims of finishing the season with silverware.

"We’re at the top of the league, but there’s still the entire second half of the season ahead of us and we need to go back to expressing our usual rhythm," he stated.

"The same goes for the Coppa Italia and Champions League: we must face every game with great attention, but this, after all, is our mentality."

Part of a defence that has leaked just 13 league goals in the campaign so far, the 31 year old expressed his pride at being part of a well-organized defensive unit.

"Last year we were the championship’s strongest defence and we’re showing that again," Barzagli said.

"In Europe there are perhaps defenders who, individually speaking, are better than us, but I think that on an organisational level there are few teams up to our standard."

Juventus travel to Parma for their Serie A game on Sunday.