After suffering a 5-0 away defeat to Juventus in the first matchday of the Europa League group stage, Schuurs, the Nijmegen defender who previously played for Torino, was interviewed by Sky Sport Italia.

I'd like to ask first, how are you feeling right now? Because yesterday you mentioned that Torino is like home to you, and today, after coming on as a substitute, you faced the city rival of your former team, Torino. I want to ask what emotions and experiences you felt during that? Also, did you see or contact your former teammates at Torino today?

Yes, of course, thank you very much. I was certainly pleased to come on as a substitute, but ultimately we lost 5-0, which is obviously very poor and unacceptable.

Have you been in touch with your former teammates from Torino?

Yes, I have. I stay in contact with Vlasic, who is still a good friend of mine, and the others, including the team's physiotherapist, Moretti (technical director), pretty much everyone.

Good evening. For us, it's truly great to see you back on the pitch tonight as a substitute. I'm curious how you're feeling both physically and mentally right now. I still haven't forgotten the impressive performances you gave when you played for Torino here previously. You've always been a promising and excellent centre-back. What I'd really like to know is, when can we see you at your best again? From what I remember, your performances for the national team were also outstanding. Let's see how you're feeling now. Do you feel that you're back on the right track?

Yes, of course. When you haven't played competitive matches for three full years, I have to be more patient with myself and wait a bit longer. That's just how I am; sometimes I'm a bit too eager to succeed and want to progress too quickly. I always want to keep moving forward. But for my knee injury recovery, I still need to give it enough time. Even in today's match, I personally felt that this was a completely different level of intensity, and I immediately realized that I still need more time to find my rhythm.

May I ask, how difficult is it to make a comeback and recover from such an injury? Because during this period, you must have experienced many very difficult and complex moments, where the stadium seemed very far away from you, perhaps even further than the actual distance to get back on the pitch today...I mean, how difficult is it to overcome such a serious injury and get through these years of inactivity? Has the process been very challenging?

It's been really, really, really difficult, because for me, football is my whole life. When you can't play football, the mental suffering you have to endure is immense. Over the past almost two years, I've experienced severe pain every single day. When you're in pain constantly, everything I think about, every day, every minute, every second, is that pain. So it's not just today's defeat that makes me unhappy; this long period has also been very difficult for my family. However, I'm now genuinely hoping to completely forget that feeling of pain.

You've finally returned to the pitch, and we're very happy for you. There's also a question about your team's playing style, which might be more demanding and complex for a centre-back, but I'm sure you're also proud to showcase this style of football in European competition. So, does this playing style, to a certain extent, create opportunities for Juventus today? From your perspective on the pitch today, can you tell us about the opponent you observed? Do you really think they can go far, as we all imagine?

Yes, of course. We knew before the match that this would be a very difficult game; we were very clear about that, and the opposition is very strong. And in today's match, we saw that their strength exceeded our current capacity. But we must remain optimistic and look ahead. We still have seven matches to play in European competition, and we're very motivated and must win the next one.

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