Miralem Pjanic admits Juventus “need to win” away at Dinamo Zagreb if they are to finish top of their Champions League group.
The Bianconeri got their Group H campaign off and running with a 0-0 draw at home to Sevilla last month while Lyon beat Dinamo 3-0 in France to set the early pace.
Juve, who have won their last two games in Serie A, will fancy their chances against the Croatian champions tonight, though, with Dinamo having failed to qualify from the group stage in all five previous attempts.
“We both want and need to win,” said midfielder Pjanic, who joined the Turin club from Roma in the summer. “We need to play well and impose our style of play on the match because it will be difficult, but our objective remains that of finishing top of the group.”
A defeat to Inter in their fourth Serie A fixture of the season has been followed by wins over Cagliari and Palermo, but Pjanic has already turned his attention to the task at hand.
Speaking to the club’s official website, the 26-year-old said: “This week we spoke about the disappointing loss at Inter.
“(Juve manager Massimiliano) Allegri explained to us the areas we needed to work on and our reaction has yielded two victories. We’re now focused on Dinamo Zagreb.”
Dinamo interim coach Zeljko Sopic has already admitted the hosts will be looking to hit Juve on the break at Stadion Maksimir.
Sopic took the helm earlier this month after Zlatko Kranjcar resigned following three consecutive defeats.
“We will stand firm and we will wait for the chance to score following a counter-attack,” Sopic said after picking up his first league win as boss against Lokomotiva Zagreb.
“I am really pleased with the fighting spirit and commitment and the most important thing was the three points.”
Meanwhile, Bulgaria coach Ivaylo Petev is set to be named as coach of Dinamo Zagreb this week, a source close to the Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) told Reuters.
The source said Petev had already agreed to join Dinamo, who have won their domestic league title 11 times in a row.