Massimiliano Allegri admits facing Milan will be unique and that whilst his Juventus are strong, they hold respect for the Rossoneri.
The 47-year-old will come up against his former employers on Saturday evening in the visitors’ dugout at San Siro, in a first return to the stadium as a Coach since his sacking by the Rossoneri in January.
And for the former Cagliari boss, tomorrow will be an occasion like no other.
Massimiliano Allegri admits facing Milan will be unique and that whilst his Juventus are strong, they hold respect for the Rossoneri.
The 47-year-old will come up against his former employers on Saturday evening in the visitors’ dugout at San Siro, in a first return to the stadium as a Coach since his sacking by the Rossoneri in January.
And for the former Cagliari boss, tomorrow will be an occasion like no other.
“Tomorrow for me will be a game like no other – I would not be human if I said otherwise,” Allegri had conceded to reporters today.
“I’m not a machine, I’m a man. I lived three-and-a-half intense years at Milan, we won one Scudetto together, a Super Cup.
“I spent three-and-a-half unforgettable years there, which are now part of the past of my professional life and even human, because when you’re in a club for many years, and then in a city, you also have relationships that go beyond the professional world.
“So, for me, tomorrow will be an evening with strong emotions, because it is normal for this.”
Allegri will come up against Pippo Inzaghi, who he notably rowed with during the final months of his tenure at San Siro.
“Let’s say that Filippo and I have two completely different stories, at a professional level, in the sense that he was a great champion, has won everything as a player.
“My career as a player cannot be compared to his, not even a 10th. As regards the technical aspect, the Coach, I started long before him.
“I began with small teams and through the results fortunately I was able to Coach Milan and Juventus, as well as the first three years in Serie A with Cagliari.
“He has been fortunate to take responsibility at Milan immediately, which is practically his home. I wish him all the luck in the world, but maybe the day after tomorrow, because I’d like to win tomorrow.”
Under Inzaghi the Rossoneri are rejuvenated, and Allegri was asked what has changed from last season.
“At this time the strength of Milan is there, even if they still want to hide it, but I think that they had a good transfer market.
“They signed six or seven major players and starters for the team. The last two, Torres and Bonaventura, are two important players of great quality, technically and above all in morale.
“They’re rebuilding what certainly has been lost a little in the last six months. Inzaghi has done very well to have restored enthusiasm to a club that over the past six months has had difficulties.
“So, right now the thing we must do is to not have fear – we must prepare ourselves for the fact that we find a team that in addition to having good technical qualities has enthusiasm and the desire for revenge, desire to prove that they too can fight for the top three places.
“Tomorrow will be an important game for them for the rest of the season, even though we’re only at the third round. It’s too soon to talk about the Scudetto or other things.”
It was put to Allegri that his side are favourites tomorrow.
“No, we are not favourites because I think that they, like us, have prepared for the match and they are preparing in the best way because tomorrow is Milan-Juventus.
“It will be a fascinating challenge, beautiful as it has always been, in a full stadium and I believe that such a challenge at this time can only be good for Italian football.
“It will definitely be a good game, where you will see two teams trying to win over one another, this is the important thing.
“We will try to do everything possible to get a positive result, knowing that we face a team that is doing well right now, as evidenced by the points they have, a team that scores a lot of goals, that has scored eight goals in two games, so we must be careful.
“Favourites? Usually in these games there is never a favourite. Playing at San Siro is never easy for any team.
“We must have the knowledge that we are a strong squad, but we have great respect for Milan.”
For Milan’s strength in attack, they have also conceded a fair number of goals, where Juve have yet to concede.
“I think the Parma game was a strange one – usually in the season there are strange games where there are lots of goals and at Parma this was the case.
“The fourth Parma goal was through the injury to the goalkeeper and there were another two or three situations that are difficult to see happening again in another game.
“I think that the game they played against Lazio is where they played well, where they showed signs of strength.
“Then, tomorrow is a game unlike any other, because Milan-Juventus is always a different game. To play at San Siro is not easy and to play against Milan at this time is not easy, just as for Milan it is not easy to play against Juventus.”
Arturo Vidal’s availability for tomorrow is a point of discussion.
“Vidal trained with the team a while yesterday – he will work with team today and then we’ll decide whether to send him on to the field from the beginning or start on the bench. However, he has taken a step forward and I’m happy.”