Massimiliano Allegri reveals Leonardo Bonucci and Mattia Perin will start in tomorrow’s Coppa Italia clash against Sassuolo, while one between Paulo Dybala, Alvaro Morata and Dusan Vlahovic could rest.
The Old Lady return to the pitch tomorrow after their 2-0 win over Hellas Verona on Sunday.
Vlahovic, Morata and Dybala started the game up front, but Allegri is preparing some tactical changes for tomorrow’s Coppa Italia clash.
“One of them could rest, I need to assess Vlahovic,” Allegri said as quoted by Ilbianconero.com.
“Kaio Jorge could start the game, but we need to bear in mind that the match could still long with extra time and penalty shootout. There are five substitutions that will be important.
“Sassuolo play well technically, they lost the last game 4-0, so they’ll be looking for revenge,” the coach continued.
“We need a serious performance which would help us to prepare for the match against Atalanta.”
Giorgio Chiellini has been ruled out for at least two weeks with a calf injury, but Leonardo Bonucci will return to action, playing his first game in 2022.
“Everyone is available apart from Chiellini and [Federico] Bernardeschi, who should return on Friday. [Moise] Kean is suspended and Bonucci and Perin will start tomorrow. The Coppa Italia is one of our targets,”the 54-year-old said.
“I haven’t decided on the line-up yet, but the most important game is the next one, so we’ll field the best possible formation.
“[Denis] Zakaria feels well and has trained regularly. Kaio Jorge had the opportunity to join Sassuolo to get more playing time, but he decided to stay here. I am happy. He is improving and tomorrow, I will decide if he will start.
“I am happy to be back and to be in the race for all the targets. The enthusiasm is back after the last game, but we can’t go too far. Too much confidence is not ok.
“Our target is to go as far as possible in the Champions League and finish in the top four,” Allegri insisted.
“Atalanta are our director competitors. The other three [Milan, Napoli and Inter] are too far away. We need to work hard in every training and return to normal. Win a game, move on, focus on the next one.”
Yesterday, Lazio coach Maurizio Sarri, who had replaced Allegri at Juventus in 2019, called the Coppa Italia ‘one of the most unsporting tournaments in the world.’ What does Allegri make of Sarri’s claims?
“I respect Maurizio, but as I always say, we play when we are asked to,” he said.
“I don’t make the rules and I don’t want to. Anything can happen, I respect Maurizio, but this has nothing to do with me. We just play games when we have to.”
Allegri LIVE: 'La squadra sta bene, Kean squalificato. Torna Bonucci' https://t.co/oqkSk39iXo pic.twitter.com/tpaPPPG55Y
— ilbianconero (@ilbianconerocom) February 9, 2022
Would be nice to see vlaho and kaio jorge on pitch, so fast team squad became such exciting, only need to sell rabiot and everything will be super. Even de siciglio I see really improved and useful player, and sandro is really regresed and need to play pellegrini as much as possible