Bernauer dreaming of ending debut campaign with a trophy

Sunday’s thrilling 2-1 victory over Sassuolo saw the Giallorosse move into the top four in the league for the first time this season – setting the stage for the team to pursue the league’s established heavyweights of Juventus, AC Milan and Fiorentina over the second half of the season.

The squad also have a Coppa Italia quarter-final tie against Roma CF to look forward to – perhaps a chance at a first trophy for the team.

“It should be the goal to be in the top four of the league,” Bernauer told Roma TV.

“I think we saw already this season that we can compete with the big teams, the more experienced teams. We played a really good game against Fiorentina, and against Milan, and we improved a lot since the game against Juventus. So I think it should be the goal to stay in the top four.

“I am dreaming of winning the Coppa, and in this competition I think everything is possible. I won it four times with Wolfsburg, each year, so why not with Roma here?”

Bernauer, a Switzerland international, is one of the more experienced members of Bavagnoli’s squad. Having left a successful side in Wolfsburg to come to Italian football, she admits she is enjoying her experience in the Italian capital.

“Honestly I did not have any expectations about the league,” she said.

“But I am a bit surprised; they are all really good sides, there are also teams that are doing everything to stop you playing your game. So they are hard games, but it makes it interesting and competitive to be a part of.

“I feel good. I’m happy to be out on the pitch, to be able to play. I think I still need time [to recover from a recent injury], I’m still not quite where I was before – but I am really happy to play and I enjoy playing with this time.

“I feel really good in the group. It’s a nice team, they are funny girls. It makes it fun to play with them, to be around them. The young players, they are really working hard and do everything to adapt to the game, the tactical tasks and everything else. It has impressed me how they have matured already this season and improved their performance on the pitch.”

Bernauer was happy to reflect on Sunday’s dramatic come-from-behind victory over Sassuolo, which saw the side recover from Heden Corrado’s second half red card to win.

She hopes the group take that momentum into this Saturday’s away trip to face Tavagnacco.

“It was a good way to start the year,” she said. “We could have made it a bit less hard [for ourselves] – but I think we showed a good reaction to what happened during the game. It is always hard to come back after a winter break, even a short break, but we did well in the end.

“[After the red card] we pushed ourselves. We were trying to push each other. We were thinking that we had to fight even more now, for Heden too. When I saw her crying as she was leaving the pitch – it was hard to see so we felt we really had to fight for her.”

On Tavagnacco, she added: “It will be a really important game for us. It will be a tough game. After the three points against Sassuolo we need to continue this way. There are no easy games in this league, especially when you play away, but I think we are ready.

"We have improved a lot in the last month, we’ve worked hard, and I’m looking forward to the next run of games.”

Over the remainder of the campaign, Bernauer is hoping to use her experience to elevate the whole group.

“For me personally it is just important to play,” she said. “I am really happy playing and I want to find my best form as soon as possible. That’s the main target for me.

“And to be a successful as possible with this team; to help the young players too – because we still need to work hard, we can still grow a lot. And to win a trophy, no?

"Dreaming is allowed, and you need to have a big target and big dreams to keep chasing and improving.”