Anelka key to Juve Champs League hopes

Posted Friday, February 08, 2013 by Foxsports.com

Juventus' Alessandro Matri is convinced new team-mate Nicolas Anelka's experience will prove vital in the club's Champions League campaign.

The former Paris Saint-Germain player has been quite the journeyman throughout his career, playing for nine different clubs prior to signing for Juventus in the January transfer window.

Matri told Sky Sport Italia that Anelka's winning mentality and European experience could prove useful for the Bianconeri over the second half of the season.

"There’s no doubting his quality: he has always shown his value, he is used to winning and has a great international pedigree," he noted.

"The last aspect will be very useful to us, because there aren't many in our team who can count on such experience on the European stage. The initial impressions are very good."

Prior to tackling their Champions League Round of 16 clash with Celtic next week, Antonio Conte's men must get through a tricky Serie A tie against Fiorentina over the weekend.

Juventus lead the league table by three points, but Matri was confident that his team would be able to see off the challenge presented by Napoli and Lazio.

"Lazio are also doing well, but Napoli have been playing together for a longer period of time and they are currently our main rivals," he stated.

"They have great strikers, but our team play enables many different players to score and it is no coincidence that we possess the most prolific attack."