Claudio Marchisio: 'I wish I could have played at Juve with Ronaldo' | OneFootball

Claudio Marchisio sounds like a man living with some regret.

Just before leaving Italy to return to Russia, Marchisio spoke with Sky Sport Italia to discuss the current Juventus squad and the upcoming Supercoppa Italiana against Milan.

“Certainly, I would have liked to play at Juventus with Cristiano Ronaldo, but it is now the past,” Marchisio said.

“I am at Zenit, we have important goals; we want to win the championship and return to the Champions League.”

“I wish that for Juve, that this will be a good year for the Champions League because this would be the end of an unstoppable cycle.

“Especially for those who are there from the beginning, from the first Scudetto, but also because of the great work everyone is doing, from the club to all of the staff.

“I think they deserve it, but they know that, although the possibilities are higher than other seasons, it is always very difficult.”

“The Supercoppa Italiana against Milan is an important match. We have seen it in the past where we have lost some of the finals against teams that were less likely to come out on top.

“In a match like this, motivation is very important and the concentration even more, because we need to give our everything in 90 or more minutes.”

Zenit St. Petersburg are in the middle of their winter break, currently with a one-point lead over Krasnodar at the top of the table with 13 games left to play.

While the RPL doesn’t resume until 3 March, Zenit have an important Europa League round-of-32 against struggling Turkish outfit Fenerbahçe beginning on 12 February.

“At Zenit, a new year begins after an important break, especially for my Russian teammates who have had little time to recover after the World Cup and who have struggled long before this holiday.

“We start this year aware of our championship position and our main goal is to try and win.

“Then, there is the Europa League: we will face Fenerbache and, even if they are in second-last in their league, I do not trust that it will be an easy match.

“When you play in Europe you have great motivations that often go to make up for the difficulties that a team can have in the league.

“We will try to go as far forward as possible and maybe the next round we will meet an Italian team, it would be nice.”

The Supercoppa Italiana against Milan will take place on Wednesday in Saudi Arabia.