Coach Max Allegri says Juventus have their minds set on the Coppa Italia final against Milan, and will field his formation accordingly.
The Bianconeri close their season tomorrow at 16:00 UK time against Sampdoria, and their Coach is determined to end it on a high.
Coach Max Allegri says Juventus have their minds set on the Coppa Italia final against Milan, and will field his formation accordingly.
The Bianconeri close their season tomorrow at 16:00 UK time against Sampdoria, and their Coach is determined to end it on a high.
“[Leonardo] Bonucci won't be benched, as I already fielded [Daniele] Rugani for 11 games and I need him to be well rested for the Coppa Italia final,” he told the Press. “Tomorrow I'll certainly play Bonucci, [Andrea] Barzagli and [Giorgio] Chiellini. The latter in particular needs at least one hour on the pitch.
“Alex Sandro is disqualified, so Evra will play.”
Allegri was especially angry after losing to Verona last week, but he did not dwell on the subject.
“I only had to say that once to the team. The lads are smart, and they understand that if they play like that, they won't get anywhere.
“A defeat is conceivable after a run with 25 victories and one draw, in fact it can even be healthy. It gives us our hunger back in view of the final.
“My daughter's video on YouTube? No, I'm not angry. It was a clever idea, though the acting left something to be desired. Maybe she should thing about studying."
Allegri then returned to the subject of the Old Lady's defence, and the possible variations in which it can be fielded.
“Right now the best replacement for Bonucci is Barzagli, but we could also play with two central defenders.
“We already tried a three-man defence with Barzagli, Rugani or [Patrice] Evra, or Chiellini. Barzagli had a good game because he's very fast in delivering and circulating the ball. His characteristics are different from Bonucci's, because he plays less through balls, but he does them very well.
"On Sunday morning we are not going to train, it will be our resting day. We'll train every day after until we depart for Rome on Thursday evening. On Friday morning we have an audience with the Pope, then we'll train at the Olimpico and finally play on Saturday evening. It's hard to believe that we're one week away from the end of the season, it feels like yesterday when it all began.
"We'll certainly have dinner together to celebrate, in a restaurant or a disco. But we'll finish early, we can't go to bed at 5a.m."