Claudio Marchisio urges Juventus to be ruthless against minnows

The Turin midfielder is lamenting the Old Lady’s dropped points against the mid-table teams; the Italian international looking forward to A.C Milan clash.

Juventus midfielder, Claudio Marchisio, believes that his team should improve on their performances while playing against the lowly-ranked teams.

The smaller clubs have proved to be Juve’s Achilles' heel, as they have witnessed four home draws against the mid-table or lower outfits. The Turin giants have been hugely impressive against top sides this season, but their game has witnessed a considerable dip against the smaller teams.

Marchisio was talking in the wake of his team’s goalless stalemate against Giuseppe Sannino’s men at Juventus Stadium. An easy win was predicted for the league leaders, but 17^th placed Siena stunned them with a solid defensive display. The Lady Killers have also shared the spoils with Genoa, Bologna and Cagliari at home this season.

Speaking about his disappointment at the outcome of their recent stalemate, and on their inability to capitalise on Milan’s draw against Napoli, the 26-year told Sky Sport Italia: 

“We have to be more motivated and focused, especially in games like this. It was a big match for us, but we were unable to take advantage of Milan’s false step against Napoli.”

The midfielder believes that his team’s weekend fixture was not as difficult as of their competitors', but the Old Lady always come unstuck in these games. The 26-year-old has urged his team to take all games seriously if they want to win the Scudetto.

“We have an easier fixture list on paper when compared to the others, but we have to improve our concentration.”

Juventus currently lead the league table with just one point lead over second placed A.C Milan. However, the Turin giants have played a game less than the Rossoneri.

The former Empoli star turned his attention to the first-leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final against A.C Milan, and insists that the Italian Champions will be extremely tough to beat despite being without the services of Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The game will be played at San Siro on Wednesday, 08 February 2012.