Cobolli wants Juve to restore honour

Juventus president Giovanni Cobolli Gigli admitted on Thursday that the Serie A title was beyond his team but that he wants them to beat Inter Milan on Sunday to restore their honour.

The top two meet at Turin’s Olympic stadium for what could have been a title decider but recent poor results from Juve have left them 10 points adrift of the leaders with just seven games to play.

And even Cobolli admits that is too much ground to make up in too little time. Moreover, he wants merely to see an improvement on Juve’s last two matches — in which they picked up only one point and leaked six goals.

“As well as the points on offer, we’re playing for pride and for our honour,” said Cobolli.

“It will be a very difficult match especially as we have some important players suspended and others have yet to recover from injuries.

“We had a breakdown against Chievo (3-3 home draw) and Genoa (3-2 defeat away),” he added. “(Coach Claudio) Ranieri and the players have been their own critics.

“Now is not the time to look back but we need to look forward.”

But even a victory over Inter on Sunday would leave Juve with too much to do as there are only 21 points still to play for and Inter need just four wins to ensure they end the season top of the pile.

“The title is still possible but only mathematically,” added Cobolli, who has reassessed the club’s aims.

“Second place is extremely important and we have to do everything to defend it. We want it more than (AC) Milan.”

While Juve have been concentrating on Inter above them, Milan have crept up behind and sit only two points behind.