Parma, 27 October 2024 - Head Coach Fabio Pecchia shared his thoughts after the draw against Empoli, on Matchday Nine of Serie A.

'I'm not going to disregard the first hour. We faced a difficult side, we knew that, and they were difficult to break down. Even in the first half we created chances, we hit the bar again, there were a lot of dangerous situations when managing the game. Empoli were brilliant, when they went ahead, they shored up their defence really well. I am happy, even though there is this sense of bitterness because we deserved to win the match. In the end we deserved to win, especially when you think that these sort of games can be easily lost. We went behind in the game but then in the second half we found greater control of the pitch straight away. We piled on the pressure and in the end the draw is deserved. The penalty wasn't the only chance, there were many in the final passages of play. I think we showed great character, the group have to keep on going and pushing, because it isn't straightforward. We're showing continuity, but the goal is to win games and ultimately we're just falling short of that. Today is a sign to the group, something I've said for two years, I need everyone, everyone together and when we have these sort of games with these contributions, the squad becomes a lot more competitive.'

Charpe was very good, Almqvist and Keita also did well. Subbing Dennis off was a tactical decision, I needed something different at that time. It was a an unusual position, trying Angelo outside to cut in with Charpe through the middle, we had more strength and unpredictability. Juventus? We have to recover and rest, just like everyone else. Today was a big win for the time because the group have allowed me to have more choices, because the match in Torino will push our physical and mental limits. Now we need to recover our energy and then we will focus on the Juve match. We will stick to our values and our desire to play. A two-minute comeback? It would've been great, I think it would've been deserved too. We'll take the result and hold it tight, in the second half we played really well. They didn't get back into it, we had them there, pushing to the end without losing patience and playing our game. In the first half, we had the desire to play our game, looking for spaces, other than hitting the bar, there were two shots from Bonny, one saved and blocked. And then, there was the opponent, who in the least dangerous moment, managed to score'.