Giorgio Chiellini backs his Juventus teammate Paulo Dybala to be decisive in tomorrow’s Supercoppa.
The Bianconeri will face Milan in Doha tomorrow afternoon, as they look to win the trophy for a fourth time in five years.
“One player on each side who could be decisive?” Chellini considered, speaking to Gazzetta dello Sport.
“For us I choose Dybala. For them I choose… the post!
Giorgio Chiellini backs his Juventus teammate Paulo Dybala to be decisive in tomorrow’s Supercoppa.
The Bianconeri will face Milan in Doha tomorrow afternoon, as they look to win the trophy for a fourth time in five years.
“One player on each side who could be decisive?” Chellini considered, speaking to Gazzetta dello Sport.
“For us I choose Dybala. For them I choose… the post!
“It’s a one-off game in which incidents count even more, and in which the approach and attitude you bring can immediately take you a step further.
“In a final you have to be switched on for 90 minutes, it’s different across a League season.
“When the Coppa Italia starts people don’t give a damn, but then those who get to the semi-final realise they were right to believe in it.
“It’s the same with the Supercoppa Italiana, if you win you enjoy it. If you lose it gnaws at you. I want to enjoy it.”
The last time the two sides met was at San Siro earlier this season, with the Rossoneri coming away with a win.
“That defeat wasn’t so bad, it was certainly decided by an incident [Miralem Pjanic’s wrongly disallowed goal] although our approach still wasn’t the best.
“That game also told us though that if you don’t show up in the big matches, well, you don’t win. Milan deserve the League position they have.
“Carlos Bacca or Gianluca Lapadula? It’s not like I’d be happy if I heard Bacca wasn’t playing, because while Lapadula is a different player he’s shown he’s in form.
“They’re both good and dangerous. Milan don’t just have them though, they also have [M’Baye Niang]. They have alternatives in every position and good players.
“They deserve our utmost respect.”
Silvio Berlusconi stoked controversy in the build-up by saying that the only way to stop Juve’s dominance is to “change all the referees”.
“I’ve been at Juventus for 12 years and I’ve heard these kind of things from all colours, and worse,” Chiellini shrugged.
“And I’d say that Berlusconi has been in finals, he knows what certain situations mean. One thing is certain, his joke didn’t affect us in the least.
“President Andrea Agnelli said ‘outside they don’t care who wins, just that Juventus don’t win’. That’s how it is, but it only gives us more strength.
“The fact that we’ve had this long period of dominance is a good thing, it should motivate everyone. Maybe there are some who don’t remember how Juve were seen in [Antonio] Conte’s first year.
“We were seen as the most sympathetic team in Italy. It’s not like that today. I’d prefer to continue with the antipathy.”
Chiellini is part of the famous ‘BBC’ defence, along with Andrea Barzagli and Leonardo Bonucci, but Daniele Rugani is starting to push for a place.
“The BBC is still alive, and let me say that I’m happy for Rugani. I said he’d be the future of Juventus right from the early days when he set foot here.
“His renewal is a strong signal for a lad with his quality, he’s maturing. He’s not yet been able to consistently express his true ability.
“Eventually one of the BBC will be replaced? Look, this year we are five central defenders [the BBC, Rugani and Medhi Benatia] and we’ve each played a good number of matches.
“That’s a good thing, because you can’t play 60 intense games a year. The important thing is that we’ll be in top condition when the battles of March and April come around.”