Juventus are not thinking about their clash with Monaco on Tuesday, instead focusing on Parma, insists Max Allegri.
The Bianconeri face the Ligue 1 side in the Champions League Quarter Final first leg, looking to secure an important win at Juventus Stadium.
However, their Coach warns that all focus must be on Saturday’s trip to Parma.
“I cannot prepare the match against Monaco now,” Allegri explained in his pre-match Press conference.
Juventus are not thinking about their clash with Monaco on Tuesday, instead focusing on Parma, insists Max Allegri.
The Bianconeri face the Ligue 1 side in the Champions League Quarter Final first leg, looking to secure an important win at Juventus Stadium.
However, their Coach warns that all focus must be on Saturday’s trip to Parma.
“I cannot prepare the match against Monaco now,” Allegri explained in his pre-match Press conference.
“Tomorrow we play Parma, a team which plays in a completely different way. I believe that you have to deal with things one-at-a-time, with patience and calm.
“We cannot play Monaco until Tuesday. First we have Parma, so let’s try and take three points against Parma, which I think is much more important at the moment.
“Then, after tomorrow night, we’ll prepare for Monaco. We’ll have a day to prepare, so, sure, the games are close, but we will absolutely not be thinking about Monaco today and tomorrow.
“We can’t go to Parma thinking the game is won, because the game will start at 6pm at 0-0. We have to win on the pitch.
“We know the importance of this game, because next Saturday [against Lazio] we have the first of a series of clashes with teams which are high-up in the table.
“We have to understand the importance of the game tomorrow, and the lads know that because they’ve reached an important level of maturity, and that’s reflected in how they approach games.
“Then we can prepare for the game against Monaco. I understand how the fans feel, this anxiety, but if you live with anxiety you’ll be unhappy.
“We need to get rid of this anxiety, and just wait enthusiastically and calmly for the game.
“I think, at the beginning of the season, few gave Juventus the chance of being so many points clear at the top of the League, in the Coppa Italia final and about to play a Champions League Quarter Final with a chance of making the semis.”
Despite these words, however, Allegri did hint at making changes to his side when they visit Tardini tomorrow.
“[Carlos] Tevez is in top condition, he rested on Tuesday, so is it necessary to rest Tevez? Players are not like machines, where you just start them up and they go.
“If a player stops and plays fewer games, then they find it more difficult to pick up the pace of the game. Today, in training, I’ll assess who will take to the field.
“[Kingsley] Coman, after the knock he had against Fiorentina in the Coppa Italia [first leg] has recovered, he went through a period where he was training a bit less.
“He’s a young player, and it’s certain that from here until the end of the League season he’ll have more opportunities, and that will be important for him because it will improve the qualities we know he has.
“Alessandro Matri? I’ll have to see tomorrow, he went through a long period of not playing, so I’ll see what condition he’s in.
“Playing so many games in a few days [after a long time out] is not easy either physically or mentally.
“As for [Fernando] Llorente, he’s very good, he had a good game for the time he was on the pitch against Empoli, I’ll see today who I’ll field.
“[Alvaro] Morata played very well in Florence, but unfortunately his sending off will deny him the final. I’ll have time to evaluate everyone today, and I’ll decided by tomorrow morning.”
Allegri then reflected on that 3-0 triumph at Fiorentina in the Coppa Italia semi-final, calling it an ‘important performance’.
“On Tuesday, the lads that played did so with great technique and desire,” the Coach recalled.
“They had a huge desire to overturn the result, something which I believe had never happened in the history of Juventus in knockout football.
“When Juventus have lost at home, they’ve never been able to overturn that result in the Coppa Italia or in European competition.
“So I think the performance the lads put in on Tuesday was an important one. Winning 3-0 in Florence against a Fiorentina side in great form, which plays some of the best football in the country was not easy.
“So I think we’ve achieved something which no-one believed we could.”