Garcia puts pressure on Juve in Serie A title race
The Capitolines have won the last two matches straight against Carpi and Palermo, but the Frenchman doesn’t take a third success for granted as the Tuscan side won their last home game against Sassuolo.
“Our target is to continue our winning streak. We can’t underrate Empoli as they already won against Sassuolo and drew against Napoli. We just have to be focused on the league and not on other things.”
In the last few weeks, the 51 year old had to deal with the absences of the club’s legend Francesco Totti, as well as with the ones of Edin Dzeko, Seydou Keita and the long-term injured Kevin Strootman. According to Garcia, all of them are slowly progressing towards their return.
“Since he got injured for the first time, I have never seen [Kevin] Strootman in such a good shape as I have seen him lately, I hope he’ll be back soon. [Seydou] Keita’s comeback will still take a while, but this doesn’t mean Daniele De Rossi will play the next seven games as central defender. [Antonio] Rudiger is fit to play in that position and I will give [Leandro] Castan a further opportunity in the next matches. He is currently lacking of rhythm, both in games and trainings.”
Following the last seasons’ controversial away defeat against Juventus, the former Lille boss stunned critics and journalists predicting that his side would have won the Serie A title at the end of the season. Twelve months later, the manager seems to have learned from his mistakes trying put all the pressure on Juve in the Serie A title race.
“They are the favorites Serie A winner, because they won four titles straight. We’ll do our best to subvert predictions but to win the title it will be vital not to have long-term injured such as Castan and Strootman last term.”
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