Massimiliano Allegri reveals Federico Chiesa and Paulo Dybala will start against Sassuolo tomorrow and admits he ‘made a mistake’ against Inter, who ‘remain Serie A favourite.’
The Bianconeri host Sassuolo at the Allianz Stadium at 17.30 UK time tomorrow.
They are unbeaten in seven Serie A games, but sit ten points behind joint-leaders Napoli and Milan.
“Alessio Dionisi won the title in Serie B with Empoli, so that’s an added value for him. Sassuolo play really well, they have good players,” Allegri said at a press conference.
“We have recovered Adrien Rabiot, Moise Kean and Federico Bernardeschi are out. The rest, more or less, are all available.
“Paulo Dybala and Federico Chiesa will play, so everybody is happy. You write and I make you happy,” Allegri said, referring to journalists who had criticised him for not starting any of the two against Inter last week.
“Dybala has important technical qualities. He is different from Kulusevski, but he [Kulusevski] played a good game in Milan in the first 60 minutes.
“Chiesa is a top player, he’s played many games already. On Sunday, I was wrong, but I had read the game in a different way, with Kulusevski man-marking Brozovic.
“It’s not a problem if a player starts on the bench, there are many games. Chiesa didn’t go on the bench because he deserved it. I had read the game in a certain way. Eventually, when he was introduced, we needed more quality and he had a great impact.
“Federico is a reference point for the national team and Juventus, but if I use the same players all the time, I’ll need 20 new players in January.
“We hope we’ll play 57 games this season and sometimes players must rest. They can benefit from it, physically and mentally.”
“Will Morata start? Now you want too much, Perin will play in place of Szczesny and De Ligt returns [to the line-up]. Cuadrado can play with Morata, Dybala and Chiesa. Anything can happen.”
Allegri is satisfied with Juventus’ developments but insists they are not the main candidates to win the title as he sees Inter as the favourite for the Scudetto.
“There is a general growth from everybody and a better physical condition. This helps me to change something because we play a game every three days,” the Tuscan tactician said.
“The players are knowing each other, the new ones are settling in, there are good perspectives for the future, but we must win tomorrow.
“We had a bad start, so there is no room for mistakes. The draw against Inter is important, but only if we win tomorrow.”
Juventus collected just two points in the opening four Serie A games, losing to Empoli and Napoli and collecting draws with Udinese and Milan.
They partially recovered by winning the following four games in a row against Spezia, Sampdoria, Torino and Roma.
“Football is opinable. Everybody has different opinions. For me, we didn’t play well against Zenit, but we played well against Inter. It has to do with the opponents too, the opponents must be taken into account,” the coach added.
“Inzaghi won’t admit it, but Inter are the favourite to win Serie A. Then anything can happen in football, but they remain the favourite.”
The Bianconeri have four more games before the November break. They travel to Verona after the match against Sassuolo and then host Zenit and Fiorentina at the Allianz Stadium.