Massimiliano Allegri explains why Wojciech Szczesny won’t play against Inter and how Juventus will replace the injured Federico Chiesa ahead of the Supercup Final.
The Poland international saved a late penalty kick in the Old Lady’s 4-3 win over Roma on Sunday but will be on the bench tomorrow.
“Some players won’t recover, Bonucci will be available, but he can’t play for 90 minutes, Alex Sandro has recovered, Danilo will return next week,” Allegri said at a press conference.
“Mattia Perin will start in goal as Szczesny still doesn’t have the Green Pass. All the players are vaccinated, but Tek was the last one and he will arrive at the stadium at the last moment, so he will go on the bench.”
This means that the former Arsenal goalkeeper took the first jab less than two weeks ago, given that the Green Pass is available after 15 days since the first dose.
Allegri also defended Daniele Rugani, who got low ratings on Italian sports papers after Juventus’ win against Roma.
“I read player ratings on La Gazzetta dello Sport the other day. I don’t want to criticise anyone, but the judgement on Rugani was excessive, I think he was the best player on the pitch against Roma,” the coach said.
“He played a good game and I wanted to say that.”
Federico Chiesa has been ruled out with a knee injury until the end of the season, but the coach refused to discuss whether Juventus will replace him on the market.
“I spoke to him after the game and yesterday morning,” said Allegri.
“I am sorry for him and for Italian football, but these things happen. He is young and has time to recover. He feels ok, he is mentally fine, now everyone must do more.
“I won’t talk about transfers, this is our team, then we’ll see what happens. We have Dejan Kulusevski, Kaio Jorge, Alvaro Morata and Paulo Dybala and Juan Cuadrado can also play as a winger.”
Kulusevski has been linked with a move to Tottenham, but Chiesa’s injury means he will likely stay in Turin until the end of the season.
“I spoke to him yesterday,” said Allegri.
“He’s been at Juventus for two years and he understands what it means. He needs to make a further step mentally. That’s how the career of a player can improve.
“He has important qualities, he must find the maturity to play the games.”
“We need to improve the quality of passes and be more serene, we are in a hurry to build from the back and we should not. We must improve, Inter are a physical team and we’ll need to make the most of every episode tomorrow.
“I am happy and I repeat that we need time, you only gain experience by playing games. We must win tomorrow’s game and become a more solid team.
“Anything can happen in a one-legged game, but the best team usually wins the league. We must reach those who are up there, then we’ll see if we can compete for the title next season.”
1. Translation park the bus and clamp it down for the Inter match.
2. Translation nobody is coming in January and thus begins the slower ball.