Juventus midfielder Emre Can believes the club is “like a big family” and “the sense of a team, the group, is strongly felt.”
The German international joined the Bianconeri in the summer and was keen to express the difference at Juve compared to the teams he’s played for in the past.
“Juventus? It’s a family. Really, the club is like a big family,” he told Tuttosport.
“The locker-room spirit is also similar to what I had experienced at Liverpool, but I really like it here at Juventus, because it’s not just a set of champions. The sense of a team, the group, is strongly felt.
“At Juventus, the individual counts much less than the group, and that is not very common, especially since I speak to my teammates in the national team, who also play for big clubs, and they tell me different things: players who just arrive to train, change and leave.
“Here at Juve you have Cristiano Ronaldo, the biggest player in the world, but in the locker-room, he is treated equally to every other player and behaves just like everyone else.
“Off the field? We are all friends, and we often go out together for dinner. Of course I am a bit closer to those who speak German like Mandzukic, Khedira & Pjanic…..and Matuidi, who doesn’t speak German but always ends up joining us (laughs).
“Mario has his own character, a particular one (laughs). He can command us by giving us a few looks, but he’s also one of the smartest and warmest players. His contribution is fundamental. He’s a funny guy too, I know it’s hard to imagine but he has a good sense of humor!
“The Champions League? There’s confidence, we’re all very concentrated. Worried? These are the games that every player wants to play, excited if anything. We aren’t missing anything but the Champions League is a complex competition. We must take it step by step, for now we only think of Atletico Madrid.
“Allegri? I like how he prepares for games, one at a time, where he studies & works on tactics taking into consideration every small detail. A very good coach & the best Juventus can have, the results prove it. Similarities with Klopp? Both very emotional on the pitch!
“Cristiano? Everyone asks me about him: my family, my friends and others. He’s an absolutely incredible player. You realize it when you play with him: his hunger to win, to score, his movements. Then there is his attitude off the pitch: a very normal & very humble person.
“Cristiano raises everything to another level, and above all, makes you live a certain plan because you see him in training, you see what he does, and you can only learn from him, and you end up committing more.
“Aaron Ramsey? If he has played for Arsenal for all these years and has scored so many goals, then it means that he’s a champion. I have been up against him a few times, and he has always impressed me. He will be a good arrival for us.
“My role? I think you have to ask Allegri (laughs). Here it’s very different from how it was in Liverpool: the regista plays a very different role, the mezzala less so, but still has some differences too.
“The funniest players? Mandzukic, as I said earlier, in his own way. Ronaldo and Cancelo joke a lot too, I don’t understand what they’re saying but it always looks very funny.
“Tough training? That is very true, the training sessions here are very tough. It’s very different (to England). I struggled at the start, but then Chiellini reassured me that it’s very normal, he said: ‘Emre, the first months will be very hard, but then you’ll fly’.
Translation from Tarek Khatib
