Juventus winning a seventh Scudetto in a row would be “extraordinary” says Max Allegri, as “Napoli have concentrated all their strength on the league”.
The two sides are separated by just a point at the top of Serie A, with the Bianconeri travelling to face Fiorentina tomorrow night.
Last weekend they beat Sassuolo 7-0, with some dubbing the Neroverdi ‘Scansuolo’, a pun on the verb “scansare” which means “to step aside”.
Juventus winning a seventh Scudetto in a row would be “extraordinary” says Max Allegri, as “Napoli have concentrated all their strength on the league”.
The two sides are separated by just a point at the top of Serie A, with the Bianconeri travelling to face Fiorentina tomorrow night.
Last weekend they beat Sassuolo 7-0, with some dubbing the Neroverdi ‘Scansuolo’, a pun on the verb “scansare” which means “to step aside”.
“It doesn’t make me smile or irritate me,” Allegri shrugged in today’s Press conference.
“I’ll just say that in the end the best team wins the league and deserves to win the league.
“Each team plays to the characteristics of its players and I always say – I’m becoming boring – that within a season you can’t always have great performances in a match.
“Games last 100 minutes, there’s half an hour where you have to play one way, then an quarter of an hour where maybe you have to play another way.
“There are many small facets within a game, and little moments during a season. We have to continue our journey, our journey toward May 27.
“Winning is not easy, only one team can win and it’s normal that the others are there. Right now it’s Napoli, who have concentrated all their strength on the league because they got knocked out of the Coppa Italia and they’re out of the Champions League, so they’ve focused all their strength on the league.
“For us it’s an important challenge, a challenge within a challenge, i.e reaching the seventh Scudetto.
“That would be something which goes beyond any result, of any plausible imagination.
“If we succeed, the lads will have given me, the fans and the club an extraordinary result, above all by beating a great team like Napoli.”
Tomorrow will be Allegri’s 200th match as Juve Coach.
“I’d say I’m happy with the results the lads have given me in these three-and-a-half years with Juventus, with the work of the club, and for the rest we go forward.
“Everything comes down to results, so far we’ve got them and we want to continue to get them from now on.
“We’ve got an important game tomorrow, and I’d say we’re getting to the most beautiful part of the season.
“You’ve got knockout games – not in the league, because there are still 15 games to go, with 45 points available – but we’ve got a knockout tie with Tottenham and then Atalanta in the Coppa Italia where we’ll either make the final or go home.
“So I think this is a nice period, you need to approach it with great enthusiasm.
“The team is good physically and especially mentally, so there are all the right things in place to be able to do well. Then, as always, it takes a bit of luck.”
Federico Bernardeschi will return to the Stadio Artemio Franchi for the first time tomorrow, having left to join Juve in the summer.
“I think he made a professional choice, he didn’t run away from Florence. If I were at Fiorentina I’d welcome him in a certain way,” Allegri said.
“Then it’s normal that they’ll chant against him, because they’re playing against Juventus and they want Fiorentina to win, so they’ll want to cause him problems on a psychological level.
“Federico is very calm though, among other things he’s a very light-hearted lad. I think this is a particular game for him, but also a good one.”
Mario Mandzukic praised Allegri yesterday, stating that he knows how to listen.
“I think it’s important to know how to listen, but it’s also the hardest thing. I learned it in my old age.
“Before I listened less, now much more.”
Finally, Allegri was asked if he could play a 4-4-2, with Bernardeschi and Douglas Costa on the wings and Gonzalo Higuain and Mandzukic up-front.
“Not tomorrow, no. Yes, yes when Costa’s there, although there’s something with Douglas, we have to see if we can do it or not…
“What is it? Let’s see later, goodbye!”