Bavagnoli demands focus against Pink Bari

After encouraging wins over the likes of Napoli and Florentia in recent weeks, the Giallorosse face Bari (kick-off: 12:30 CET) in another key Serie A game on Saturday – looking to extend their solid start to the second half of the season and continue their push towards the top-four positions.

Bari are in a battle to stave off relegation themselves, but Bavagnoli is acutely aware that cannot mean her in-form side suddenly take things for granted.

“We’ve trained well again this week, but the difficulties can arise in terms of the approach because clearly both sides know each other really well,” she said.

“We know that they are a side that, despite their position in the table, always want to have the ball and don’t give it up easily. So it will be a tough game, one in which we will always need to be ready and focused on all the aspects we’ve worked on in advance.

“After that, our attitude will be crucial. We cannot make the mistake of thinking the difference in our league positions will make the difference on the pitch before we’ve even started playing. We’ve improved a lot in that regard recently and I want to make sure we continue to make progress.”

A 4-0 win over Florentia in the Coppa Italia last weekend was a rare occasion this season where the side have taken advantage of almost all their attacking opportunities in front of goal – a step forward in their performances that Bavagnoli also wants to see maintained.

“We have definitely worked hard on what have been and still are some of our weaker points,” she said.

“There have been – and still are – a few games where we haven’t got the goals to show for the amount of the ball we’ve had and the chances we’ve produced, so that’s definitely one area we’ve been working on.”