Pjanic: “We await Napoli with great pride”

The Bosnian midfielder comments on the victory in the Italian Cup over Roma and prepares for Sunday’s match at San Paolo

Last night he was, as always, in the thick of things during the Bianconeri’s splendid victory against Roma, which earned the team qualification into the Italian Cup semi-finals. Regardless of this, Miralem Pjanic is already focused on the next objectives, starting with Sunday evening’s fixture against Napoli at San Paolo.

“Yesterday we wanted to win and we showed it from the beginning,” explains Miralem to Sky Sport’s microphones. “Our objective was to pass the round, because our goal is to win the Italian Cup and we had a great game, against an excellent Roma.

“We await Napoli with great pride on Sunday, it will be a match of the highest level. Napoli always remains Napoli. They are a good team, who come off a great match in the Italian Cup. We will have to give everything to get the three points.”

The outing against Gattuso’s men represents another important stage in Serie A for the Bianconeri. The path, as the midfielder explains, still long and full of pitfalls: “The championship is still long. We lost points against second-tier teams so nothing is taken for granted. We are where we want to be, but we will have to fight and keep our concentration high. We hope to continue like this.”

Finally, a thought was shared on the other seasonal goal, the Champions League, where he will meet his ex-team, Lyon: “I am very happy to return to Lyon. I have already heard from my old coach; I will come across many friends again. It will be a complicated game because in Europe nothing is taken for granted. We hope to get to the bottom without injuries, but our desire is to get to the bottom.”