Juve must play at their limits against in-form Lille, warns Motta

Thiago Motta stressed the importance of Juventus playing at their very best when they face Lille in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Juve face a tough task against a side who have already upset Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid in this season’s competition.

This will be the first ever meeting between these teams.

However, Juve have lost three of their last four Champions League matches against French opponents (W1), including both against Paris Saint-Germain in the 2022-23 campaign. and Motta warned against any complacency.

“All matches are important. We, as Juventus, always want to win. The most important thing is always trying to improve,” Motta told reporters on Monday.

“Lille are very confident, and we want to face them in optimal condition. We aim to give more than our maximum.

“There are no favourites in a match. It’s a beautiful game, in a beautiful stadium, and we hope the pitch will be in good condition tomorrow. We can only talk tomorrow about who played better.”

Motta will have midfielder Douglas Luiz from injury, but is still without a glut of players.

“He’s [Luiz] one more player who can help the team. We’ll be missing Arek [Arkadiusz Milik], Gleison [Bremer] and [Nicolas Gonzalez].”

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Today’s pre-match preparations

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Lille boss Bruno Genesio knows Juve will present a stern test for his team, despite their shock wins over the Madrid clubs this term.

“Every Champions League match is different, but there is one essential parameter to get a result – commitment,” he said.

“Like all Italian teams, Juventus are very well organised, very difficult to play against. Having already achieved two big results in this competition, we are going to give it our all again and we have our fans who will give us strength.”

Jonathan David will be one of the standout Lille players Juve have to keep a close eye on.

The Canada international has scored six goals in his last eight Champions League appearances for Lille.

Lille have won all five games he has scored in but have not won any of the six games he has featured in without scoring (D2 L4).