Antonio Conte has called on his players to focus on the task in hand as the Bianconeri prepare to take on Fiorentina in Saturday night’s showdown at Juventus Stadium.
The meeting with the Viola represents the first of three important games in the space of seven days and, despite playing down talk of a rivalry, Conte conveyed his determination to start on the right foot with a win over Vincenzo Montella’s European contenders.
Speaking to the media in Vinovo, Conte said: “We’re fully focused on our meeting with Fiorentina. We’ll be facing a team who are in the hunt for a Champions League place. They play a good brand of football and have done well in the transfer market.
“However, I don’t feel any sense of rivalry, not even when I was a player. I think it’s something that’s felt more in Florence than Turin. Every team who plays against us attaches a particular significance to the game, but we don’t think about it.”
With the vast majority of the international contingent now back in Vinovo after representing their respective nations in midweek, Conte sought to provide an update on the condition of his players.
“I’ve got no concerns over Giovinco, he’s shaken off his problem and trained regularly with the team yesterday. Marchisio has been with the group for a few days and will have his condition assessed.
“As far as the returning international players are concerned, Isla has the flu, Lichtsteiner’s reported some discomfort in his neck and Pirlo has a leg problem. We hope it’s just a simple strain, but I’ll speak to him because I don’t want to run any risks as far as the future’s concerned.
“Asamoah still needs to feature in the third place play-off and it would be unthinkable for him to play on Tuesday if he returned the day before. However, if he came back on Sunday then we’d have more time to assess the situation.
“As I’ve already said, it’s a period in which we need to grit our teeth. We’ve had several players missing since the start of January, but we’re handling the issue with our heads held high.”
As the Bianconeri prepare to work their way through a congested run of fixtures, Conte took the opportunity to question the decision to play next weekend’s encounter with Roma on a Saturday.
“I don’t see the sense in us being made to play Roma on Saturday. An extra day off, in the midst of a hectic run of fixtures, is fundamental for us. We don’t want to cause controversy, but what’s with all the hurry?
“We’re already playing Fiorentina on the Saturday, meaning we’ve only had one day with a full complement of players to prepare for the game. That’s fine, but give us the opportunity of making it up the following week by moving the game to Sunday night.”
While the majority of the press conference was centred around this weekend’s meeting with Fiorentina, Conte found time for a brief reflection on Tuesday’s Champions League meeting with Celtic after receiving a bottle of whisky from a Scottish journalist.
“I’m expecting a red-hot atmosphere at Celtic Park. I saw what their supporters are capable of creating in the games against Benfica and Barcelona. But we can also produce an intense atmosphere at Juventus Stadium and will aim to do just that when Celtic travel to Turin for the return leg.”
Source: Juventus.com
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