Motta pleased with Juventus’ first performance under him

Turin, Italy: Juventus enjoyed a comfortable 3-0 home win over Como in their Serie A opener on Monday, with coach Thiago Motta appearing very happy with his new side.

In their first match of the season at the Allianz Stadium, Juventus put in a confident performance, defeating newly-promoted Como thanks to goals from Samuel Mbangula, Timothy Weah and Andrea Cambiasso.

“I’m happy with the performance, but more importantly with the result. We deserved the victory,” Motta told a news conference.

“Today I liked the defensive phase, understanding the timing of the pressure, the reorganisation, the willingness of the attackers, and Dusan (Vlahovic)’s willingness to start the first pressure.

“I am very satisfied. We can also improve in this area and we will try our best to do everything well. I think this team should and can do it.”

Juventus, who won nine consecutive titles between 2012 and 2020, are looking to make a fresh start under the Italian-Brazilian coach, whose main goal is to bring the Turin club its first Serie A title in four years.

“Humility is always necessary,” said Motta, “like today when Dusan dropped back to consolidate the team… We played well against a very good team who showed a lot of enthusiasm.”

“We played in the right way, with a lot of respect for them: defending as a team; when we had the ball we had quality players with a good understanding of the game and the situation, and we played very well throughout the game.”

Motta, 41, had more praise for Serbian Vlahovic, who created a string of chances, including a goal that was ruled out for offside.

Motta said: “Dusan has performed very well both with and without the ball. He is an important player for us and the team definitely needs him.”

Vlahovic had a chance to extend Juventus’ lead with a free kick just before half-time, but Como goalkeeper Reina made a diving save and seconds later the 24-year-old striker fired the ball towards the far post.

“We need to recover from this game, regain our energy and focus against Verona,” Motta added.

“We are going to face a tough team, they showed that on the first day and we have to do well.”

Verona, who finished 13th last season, beat Napoli 3-0 at home on Sunday thanks to Dayron Livramento’s opener and Daniele Mosquera’s brace.