Juventus Chief Football Officer Francesco Calvo insists a UEFA ban from Europe is ‘nothing more than rumours’ and the club is ‘so solid that we can plan regardless of sporting results’ this season.
The Coppa Italia semi-final with Inter kicks off at San Siro at 20.00 UK time (19.00 GMT).
You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens on the LIVEBLOG.
As the first leg was a 1-1 stalemate and the away goals rule no longer applies in this tournament, any draw this evening will prompt extra time and perhaps even penalties.
“It has certainly been a long and complicated season with ups and downs, we are still in the running for three tournaments and we’ll see how we feel after this evening’s result,” Calvo told Mediaset.
La Gazzetta dello Sport reported this week that UEFA have decided to exclude Juventus from all European competition for a year, regardless of what the Italian justice system eventually decides, after the 15-point Serie A penalty for artificially inflating transfer fees was temporarily revoked pending a new trial.
“We have no news on the situation, but I too read those rumours in a newspaper and they were treated like facts, but they are nothing more than rumours.”
Winning the Coppa Italia could be the way of qualifying for the Europa League group stage if Juve do see their 15-point penalty imposed again and are pushed down the table. Is it not difficult for the club to plan for the future without knowing what tournament they will be in?
“This is not a decisive match for our transfer strategy. We know that we have a strong squad that can win this evening, but the decisions will be made behind the scenes and without pressure. All squads can be improved and we’ll work on it after the next month and a half.
“Juventus as a club are so solid that we are able to plan regardless of the sporting results from this season. Naturally, playing in Europe or not does influence the strategy, above all the size of the squad, but we have certain objectives.”