PIRLO'S POST MATCH REACTION

Cristiano was happy to come off because he would have had to spend the rest of the game chasing the ball. It was important for us to win in order to have hope. We managed to do it despite some difficulties. I'll start thinking about the Coppa final tomorrow. The objective now is to recover energy.

We wouldn't be talking about fourth place. If we had fought for every ball like in the last games we would be talking about something else. We've made mistakes in a lot of games, especially ones that were easier than tonight.

We lacked that hunger and fire that we had in other years. After 9 Scudetti that flame was dying out a bit but we had to rekindle it. The players are up to the task and we showed that again tonight.

The group is healthy and still has a lot to give. The players are young, playing for Juve is different, there are different responsibilities. We've lost points along the way but I'm happy with the team I've had at my disposal.

Guard of honor? They've never done that for us in nine years. The club congratulated them after the Scudetto, the president too, and I think that was enough.

A Sunday of hope, hoping for someone's misstep tomorrow. The important thing was to win today.