Bonucci: We need to beat Chelsea

Juventus centre-back Leonardo Bonucci believes Juventus must beat Chelsea when the two teams meet in Italy on Tuesday night.

Juve are one point behind the Blues and Shakhtar Donetsk in Champions League Group E, with two games left to play.

The Italian international thinks three points must be pursued in the midweek match, and insists Roberto Di Matteo’s side being defeated by West Brom on Saturday makes no difference to the challenge facing Juve.

“From now on we think about Chelsea, as at this moment it is the most important test. We want to go through to the next phase of the Champions League,” Bonucci told reporters.

“Chelsea lost to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, but that doesn’t change anything as far as we are concerned. On Tuesday we must step on to the pitch to win.”

The reigning Serie A champions have not had things all their own way this weekend either, having been held to a goalless draw by Lazio thanks to a superb individual performance from Lazio goalkeeper Federico Marchetti.

“It was a great Juve performance and we were the only team on the field. Lazio never had a shot on target and Marchetti was man of the match,” Bonucci said.

“Obviously we are angry, as we are bringing home one point instead of the three we actually deserved. We lacked precision in front of goal and I could’ve scored too, but I hit the crossbar.”