Conceicao: Juventus ‘stronger’ than Roma and Como, ‘Every team wants Bernardo’
Francisco Conceicao believes that Juventus are ‘stronger’ than Roma and Como as the three sides look set to do battle over one spot in the Serie A top four, and says that ‘every team’ would want to have his compatriot Bernardo Silva in their side: ‘He’s a great player’.
Conceicao sat down in front of the media for the pre-match press conference ahead of Juventus’s upcoming Serie A match away against Udinese.
Head coach Luciano Spalletti has made a habit of sending one of his senior players in to do the Serie A pre-match press conferences in recent weeks: Manuel Locatelli went first, Pierre Kalulu has also had a go, and this week was the turn of the Portugal international, Conceicao.
Conceicao on Juventus’s top four battle and Bernardo Silva links
The month of February was one to forget for Juventus, who slipped to defeats against Atalanta, Inter, Galatasaray and Como across the Coppa Italia, Serie A and Champions League.
The defeats against Como and Galatasaray in the cups have ended any hopes of silverware for the Old Lady this season, and those against Inter and Como have made a top-four finish considerably more of a challenge.
Juventus have since bounced back with a respectable 3-3 comeback draw away against Roma and a 4-0 thrashing of Pisa last weekend. They now find themselves in sixth place, one point shy of both Roma (fifth) and Como (fourth).
“I think that the strength of the group is the basis for everything we do. We’ve shown that many times in the past,” Conceicao told the media during his pre-match press conference on Friday.
“During the week, we work on becoming stronger and we all have to improve individually, and that’s what we’ve done. We work on all the details that the coach wants to improve.
“We’re playing very well at the moment, but we have even more potential to show. Now we have to win to achieve our goals.”
On the upcoming opposition, Conceicao added: “Udinese are a strong team and even more so at home. We know that they’re particularly strong up front and strong in general, but we go to Udine wanting to win.”
Juventus have also been linked with a potential move for Conceicao’s international colleague Bernardo Silva, whose contract with Manchester City is due to expire at the end of the 2025-26 campaign.
“I know Bernardo very well and he’s a great player,” said Conceicao. “Every team would like to have Bernardo in their side.”
Conceicao was also asked how excited he is to have Dusan Vlahovic nearing a return to the team after a long spell on the treatment table and a lack of suitable replacements in his absence.
“All teams are stronger when all the players are fit,” said Conceica. “Dusan is very strong and is missing from our team at the moment. He’s getting better and better and we hope that he comes back well from his injury.”
And on Spalletti, he said: “The coach has brought us a lot of things. We play well, we have the quality to do even better and prove it. You can see that the team plays with happiness, and plays well. We try to dominate the game and all the players like that, particularly those up front. We create a lot of chances but we have to do more and continue working hard to try and win in every game.”
Conceicao was also asked which of Juventus, Roma or Como he feels are the most likely to finish the 2025-26 season in the Serie A top four.
He replied: “I’d say Juve, I don’t care about which of the others make it. I care that we are there and that’s what we’re working for.
“We know we have the quality to stay (in the Champions League). We have to work hard and win the game tomorrow. We have to stay in the Champions League, we have the quality to do it.
“For me, we’re stronger, but we have to show it. We have to win to stay up there and we have to prove ourselves.”