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Juventus 'will die on the pitch' before giving up on Serie A title, says Morata
The Spanish forward has promised that the defending champions "will fight to the end" in pursuit of a 10th successive Scudetto
Alvaro Morata says Juventus "will die on the pitch" before giving up on the Serie A title.
Juve bounced back from a damaging 1-1 draw against Verona at the end of February by beating Spezia 3-0 at Allianz Stadium on Tuesday night.
That result saw Andrea Pirlo's men close the gap on leaders Inter to seven points, and Morata has vowed that they will continue to fight for Italian football's top prize until the bitter end amid an intense fixture schedule.
What's been said?
The Bianconeri striker, who scored the opening goal against Spezia, told Sky Italia post-match: "It is not an easy season: we play every three days and we have important players who are not available.
"There are no excuses, but there are still many points at stake: those who do not believe in us, do not turn on the TV and do not watch our games. We work to win.
"If we do not win, then we will congratulate the winners, but first we will die on the pitch and they will have to tell us that there are no more points to be won. As long as there is a chance, we will fight to the end."
How did Juve see off Spezia?
Spezia managed to frustrate Juve in the first half of their Serie A clash as they sat back and absorbed pressure while keeping Morata and Cristiano Ronaldo quiet.
However, substitute Federico Bernardeschi made an immediate impact off the bench by setting up Morata to slot into the back of the net just after the hour mark.
Bernardeschi was also the provider of Juve's second goal as he found Federico Chiesa in the box after cutting in from the left, with the Italian winger firing the ball home at the second time of asking after seeing his first shot saved by the Spezia goalkeeper.
Ronaldo then rounded off the scoring in the dying moments of the game after a swift counter-attack to mark the 600th league appearance of his career in style.
Morata's record for Juve this season
Morata rejoined Juve from Atletico Madrid last summer on an initial 12-month loan deal, and has since established himself as a regular in Andrea Pirlo's set-up.
The 28-year-old has 15 goals in 33 matches for the club so far this season, while also providing 11 assists, but has only just returned to full fitness after an illness-enforced spell on the sidelines.
"I really missed playing and coming back to feel with a bit of strength: lately I didn't have much," he added. "We have to remain available and give everything when playing because we are all counted."
