Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri argued with a journalist during a pre-match press conference on Friday denying the Bianconeri have had many muscle injuries this season.
The Bianconeri boss confirmed Federico Chiesa and Dusan Vlahovic would miss Saturday’s derby della Mole against Torino, so a journalist asked whether he was worried about a “string of muscle injuries” but Allegri reacted angrily.
“Calm, calm, calm, we haven’t had a string of injuries,” said the Bianconeri boss.
When the journalist mentioned Alex Sandro and Paul Pogba, Allegri hit back again: “Alex Sandro is one, but Pogba? Which problem did he have?”
The journalist argued that the Frenchman had not trained for the entire pre-season tour in the USA during the summer because of a physical issue and before testing positive for testosterone.
“Pogba what? Pogba what?” continued Allegri. “Where was the problem?”
“Pogba had a muscle problem,” said the journalist, but Allegri replied: “No, it was the knee. You wrote muscle problems.”
The journalist replied: “We write what they tell us.”
“Did Vlahovic have a muscle injury? No!” continued Allegri.
“As for Chiesa, I explained it before, maybe you didn’t understand. Maybe I do not speak good Italian or you don’t understand. I don’t want to get angry. I’ve said Chiesa’s scan was okay, but he felt pain this morning. He is worried, so he won’t play. Vlahovic has a back injury. The only muscle injury we have is Alex Sandro. That’s all.”
Kean had been injured too, added the journalist, but Allegri was in no mood to lose the argument.
“That was an old thing, he had had a knock and he was in pain. I am always calm guys, come on. When somebody is injured, someone else plays,” concluded the coach.