Massimiliano Allegri has confirmed Federico Chiesa and Dusan Vlahovic won’t be available in the Turin derby on Saturday.
It is an eventful day in Turin where it’s just been confirmed that Paul Pogba has tested positive for testosterone also following counter-analysis on a second sample.
The news broke as soon as Massimiliano Allegri’s pre-match press conference started and the coach claimed he didn’t even know about the outcome of Pogba’s B sample.
The Italian tactician had more bad news for Juventus fans as he said both Vlahovic and Chiesa wouldn’t be available on Saturday when the Old Lady host city rivals Turin at the Allianz Stadium.
“They are not available, but the team feels well,” Allegri said, as quoted by Ilbianconero.com.
“Except Chiesa and Vlahovic, everyone else is available,” added Allegri. “We have Kean, Yildiz and Milik. Rabiot can score goals too. Fagioli and Miretti will start soon, especially Fabio. Kean feels well, he will play tomorrow.
“We’ll face an angry Torino, it’s never easy against them, Juric’s teams are strong physically, so we must be ready to battle.
“I won’t change the system,” insisted the Bianconeri boss.
“Perhaps it can happen during the game, there could be different solutions, considering the characteristics of those at my disposal.”
Vlahovic has been dealing with low back pain, so he’s been training separately this week. He also missed Juventus’ 0-0 draw against Atalanta last week.
On the other hand, Chiesa was unable to complete a training session on Thursday due to a muscle problem.
“We are sorry they are not available. These things happen in a season, we’ll see how Vlahovic will return. We need him as we need everyone. Chiesa’s MRI scan was negative, there are no lesions. He was a little bit worried, so it’s fair to leave him out. I need fit players for the game.”
It remains to be seen if the Italian winger will be included in Luciano Spalletti’s squad for the October break.
“Surely he has nothing serious,” Allegri continued.
“It could be inflammation, but I’ve seen him worried. It happened in the past that he had nothing and then he remained out for a month and a half because of an injury. The doctors know it and they want fit players.”
Allegri had been criticised for his post-match quotes after a 0-0 draw against Atalanta last week and hit back today: “We were not satisfied with a point, we were not convinced enough, but Atalanta are a strong team and they proved it in Europe, winning in Lisbon.
“We defended well, but we could have been more aggressive. Tomorrow, it will be different. Fans will have to help us. We want to play the Champions League next season and we must be ready tomorrow, physically and mentally.”
and the list will continue
Last season’s Allegri is back and he shall leave at the end of the season. Very disgraceful to compete for the 4th spot and think Atlanta and Lisbon strong teams.
V9 is a disaster and should be sold. Lukaku is 8 years older but much more healthy.