Cuadrado says playing Atalanta good preparation for Monaco tie

Turin, May 1 (IANS) Juventus winger Juan Cuadrado feels that the 2-2 draw against Atalanta in the Serie A was a good preparation for their Champions League semi-final against Monaco.

A young and hungry Atalanta held Juventus 2-2 on Friday and Cudadrado reckoned that since both Atalanta and Monaco have young teams and play quick counter-attacking football, they got a feeling of what to expect in the Champions League semi-final.

Juventus face Monaco away on Wednesday and then host the French principality outfit in Turin on May 9.

"The game against Atalanta was useful for Wednesday night in the way that Monaco operate in a similar way: both teams have very good young players who look to play quickly and put you under a lot of pressure," the Colombian international told Juventus website on Sunday.

"We didn't perform the way you expect a Juventus side to perform in Bergamo (stadium) on Friday night but maybe that can even help us going forward," he added.

"These things all contribute to our growth as a group and it would be wrong to focus on the negatives given the brilliant season we have had up to this point."

Several football experts have been labelling Monaco an easy draw for Juventus due to the former's inexperience in dealing with big European matches. But Cuadrado is expecting a very difficult match for the reigning Italian champions.

"We need to show our usual solidity, focus and desire all over the field because it will be a very difficult match," he reiterated.