Maurizio Sarri confirms Juventus are working on “moving the ball more quickly” against Milan in the Coppa Italia semi-final, but Cristiano Ronaldo could change their plans.
The first leg ended 1-1 at San Siro and the return will be in Turin on Wednesday at 20.00 GMT.
It’s not yet clear whether it will be played behind closed doors, with only local fans or forbidding supporters from the regions most affected by the Coronavirus outbreak, namely Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna and Veneto.
Maurizio Sarri confirms Juventus are working on “moving the ball more quickly” against Milan in the Coppa Italia semi-final, but Cristiano Ronaldo could change their plans.
The first leg ended 1-1 at San Siro and the return will be in Turin on Wednesday at 20.00 GMT.
It’s not yet clear whether it will be played behind closed doors, with only local fans or forbidding supporters from the regions most affected by the Coronavirus outbreak, namely Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna and Veneto.
A final decision is not expected until later this evening, so the situation remains extremely fluid.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s presence is also in a great deal of doubt, as he flew to Portugal to be with his mother after she reportedly suffered a stroke.
“I don’t know what will happen, it is a personal matter, so he will discuss it when he returns. His return will depend on how that situation develops,” said Sarri in his press conference.
“It’s obvious that the tactics and plans do change depending on whether Ronaldo is available or not. There’s no replacement for him in the whole world, so naturally we’d do something different in his absence.
“There are no injuries now, just knocks, which are to be considered normal at this stage of the season. Gigi Buffon had a slight back problem, but he trained today, while Giorgio Chiellini had pain in his adductor yesterday and trained separately today. We’ll evaluate everything tomorrow morning.
“Sami Khedira is progressing well, if we do see him on the field tomorrow, it’ll be off the bench. Douglas Costa is improving in training, but not yet available for 90 minutes.”
Gianluigi Donnarumma is out of the Milan squad for tomorrow’s Coppa Italia semi-final after an ankle injury.
“We are not interested in who Milan have or don’t have. If we step out there and prove our worth, we won’t have any problems reaching the Final,” continued Sarri.
“You can see they are a solid squad and ready to sacrifice themselves for the collective. Milan are not an easy team to face.”
Juventus need to get back on track after their Champions League defeat to Olympique Lyonnais.
“Our first half was poor, the second was better, but a match is evaluated based on the result and we failed to transform positive situations into goals. We discussed the importance of moving the ball quickly and must continue to focus on this aspect, because the players are convinced we need to improve that.
“My sensation was that we were more aggressive in the second half and it became a completely different game.”
It’s still not known who Juventus will be facing in Serie A next, as there are plans to shuffle along the entire fixture list, playing Inter on Monday March 9.
“I am driving my staff crazy, that’s for sure, as I ask for a different thing every single day. We just have to take the situation as it is and try to adapt. Hopefully they can tell us by Wednesday who we are playing on Monday, otherwise it’s a colossal waste of energy.”