Massimiliano Allegri warns “Juventus have not become favourites for the Champions League” ahead of the Porto match.
Barcelona were beaten 4-0 by Paris Saint-Germain, while Bayern Munich – by their standards – have struggled domestically, leading some to suggest the Bianconeri are favourites to lift the trophy in Cardiff.
“It’s not like with Barcelona’s defeat, Juventus have become favourites for the Champions League,” Allegri said in his Press conference after the Palermo match.
Massimiliano Allegri warns “Juventus have not become favourites for the Champions League” ahead of the Porto match.
Barcelona were beaten 4-0 by Paris Saint-Germain, while Bayern Munich – by their standards – have struggled domestically, leading some to suggest the Bianconeri are favourites to lift the trophy in Cardiff.
“It’s not like with Barcelona’s defeat, Juventus have become favourites for the Champions League,” Allegri said in his Press conference after the Palermo match.
“First of all we have to play against Porto, who are used to playing these kind of games. Playing there is absolutely not easy, and there are teams of a high level.
“The thing that makes me smile is that when I arrived here three years ago there was a fear we wouldn’t beat Malmo.
“Now we’ve gone the opposite way, with people saying Juventus are the number one favourite for the Champions League.
“I think you need to be balanced in these things, what we have to do is go onto the pitch and beat Porto.
“Porto are a team who knocked out Roma in the play-offs, they’re a club used to playing these kind of games and that counts in the Champions League.
“So we need to go there with extreme caution, knowing that to go through we have to work hard and suffer.
“PSG had a good game, and Barça didn’t match their level. There wasn’t just intensity and running though, there was also technique, just as Bayern and Real Madrid have technique.
“The important thing is that we shouldn’t go too far the other way and start saying that Juve are favourites for the Champions League.
“We feel like we’re on the level of the others and we have to play to get to the win, every year Juve have to play to win, in every competition we have to raise the bar.
“Then if the others do better then maybe it’s because they’ve had a bit of luck and gone through, that’s part of the game.
“We can’t go from being full of depression before Malmo – and trust me, I remember it – to being euphoric now.”
Andrea Barzagli and Giorgio Chiellini missed tonight’s match, will they be back to face Porto?
“They’ve been working separately, we’ll see how they are tomorrow. I haven’t seen them today, so there’s a chance, but we’ll see.
“If there’s any risk then they’ll definitely stay out, because it’s a high-intensity game and those who play must be comfortable without the risk they’ll waste a substitution.
“At the moment though the journey continues in the best way, we hope to have them available.”