Allegri: ‘Fiorentina always difficult’ | Football Italia
Massimiliano Allegri admits “it’s always been difficult for Juventus” at Fiorentina, who will be “pushed by the whole city”.
The Viola consider the Bianconeri to be their most bitter rivals, with the match at the Artemio Franchi often seen as the biggest game of their season.
Tomorrow Stefano Pioli’s side welcome the Old Lady to Florence, and his opposite number is well aware of the difficulties the fixture presents.
“More than a pitfall it’s a difficult game, because Fiorentina are a good team,” Allegri warned in his pre-match Press conference.
“They’re well coached, with young, strong players who are doing well. They haven’t lost at home yet, they’ve scored 14 goals and only conceded three, while for them this is the most importune game of the year.
“For ourselves it’ll be like a lot of other games, we’ll find a team that will do everything to beat us, but it’ll be an important game for us because all of the top three are playing away to difficult teams.
“It’ll be a long game, because games in Florence never end and we’ll be facing a team who will be pushed by the whole city.
“We will have to have the same enthusiasm and play with personality and great technique.
“When we arrive in April we’ll be able to say what the most difficult month is, now let’s think about tomorrow, then on Friday we’ll have another head-to-head game with Inter.
“Then we need to go to Switzerland to secure first place [in the Champions League group], because at this point that becomes important. Then we’ll have the other games.
“The most important thing now is Florence, because of the difficulties with the game and the atmosphere.
“It’s always been difficult for Juventus in Florence.”
Allegri then gave some updates on his team selection for tomorrow, starting with Rodrigo Bentancur.
“He can still play some games and tomorrow he’ll play, then we’ll see [Miralem] Pjanic and [Blaise] Matuidi. Then there’s [Juan] Cuadrado who can play on the right.
“Let’s see who has recovered, because Tuesday [against Valencia] was a tough game. [Federico] Bernardeschi is back, [Mattia] De Sciglio will be there.
“It’s difficult for Alex Sandro, [Sami] Khedira will be out. Emre [Can] did part of the training session with the squad yesterday, so we’ll see if he can make the bench.
“From next week he’ll do more intense training, and he could be available against Inter.
"I don't think it'll be the same team, because we played Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday. Afterward we'll have a week where we can recover our energies.
"That doesn't mean that those who will be on the bench tomorrow will stay there for the whole game, but there could be some changes tomorrow.
"It could be [Leo] Bonucci, Mandzukic or [Miralem] Pjanic [who rests]. We'll see.
"In midfield I don't have many options, so all I can do is take one out. At the back it's all good, because [Daniele] Rugani had a good game against Spal and [Medhi] Benatia played a great game against Milan.
"Occasionally I like to give [Giorgio] Chiellini a liltte rest, Leo has played a lot and he could also rest tomorrow.
"The important thing tomorrow is to be aware of the difficulties of the match.
"It will be a beautiful day of sport and football because playing in Florence in front of a wonderful crowd is always nice."
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Allegri: ‘Dybala helps Juventus’ | Football Italia
Juventus Coach Massimiliano Allegri singles out Paulo Dybala for praise - “he gets us out of difficult situations”.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Mario Mandzukic are developing an impressive partnership, but the Tuscan is keen not to leave out La Joya from that equation.
“They did well on Tuesday,” Allegri replied, when asked about CR7 and Mandzukic in his pre-Fiorentina Press conference.
“Those two, but Dybala too. He’s scoring less, but he links the play and he often gets us out of difficult situations because he has a a lot of technique.
“He’s improving in that respect, and he’s very important for us.
“It’s just a question of characteristics. Ronaldo and Mandzukic need space further forward, then a third has to move into the space they leave, whether that’s Paulo or a midfielder.
“As for his growth, I’ve always said that he has to be an all-round player in certain games. He’s not scoring like last year, but in terms of the team’s play his crucial.
“It’s not that his role has changed, it’s just that before we only had one up-front, which was [Gonzalo] Higuain.
“Now we have two. With the characteristics of those two players, it’s normal we need someone to link things.
“Paulo always plays the same way, but now we have one more striker and one less in the middle of the pitch.
“Then Ronaldo’s characteristics mean he sometimes approaches the goal in a different way.”
There will be Serie A matches on Boxing Day this year, will it be difficult to keep the team going across the holiday period?
“The thing that’s a bit strange is that we’ll go to Bergamo on December 25. We’ll be training on the 24th and 25th, so we’ll try to eat as little pandoro as possible.
“Not least because it’s cold in Bergamo on December 26 and we risk stuffing ourselves. So we’ll try to avoid it, for the sake our our health.
“But before we get there we need to sort things out with Inter, Fiorentina, and then Torino, which is the derby and always complicated.”
It was then put to the Coach that his team needs to be more clinical.
“I don’t think it’s a question of being clinical, I think we have the best attack in the league,” Allegri pointed out.
“Until now we haven’t managed to win a game 4-0, if that’s what perfection is. Aside from that perfection doesn’t exist and I don’t want it.
“The team must continue to improve because we need to raise the bar, every day each and every one of us must ask more from himself, because you can’t just maintain your level, if you try to you just get worse.
“We need to improve and be aware that up to now we haven’t done anything. Then we’ll see the truth later.
“Scudetti are won in May, the Champions League in June. We need to keep going with balance, without getting carried away by these results, so we can arrive in March in the best physical and, above all, mental condition.
“We know Napoli and Inter are always there, because we still need to play Inter twice and Napoli once. There’s a big difference between three points and one point, and it’s in those moments you can throw away a lead.
“We work, and we’re aware that tomorrow is an important round because we, Napoli and Inter are playing difficult games.
“Then the next one will be important too, because to win the league you need a certain number of wins. Our objective is to be top of the table on December 29, hopefully with a big points advantage.”
A big subject in Italy in recent weeks has been the abuse from the stands, and Juve are sure to find a hostile atmosphere tomorrow.
“It’s something that’s found generally in Italy. [Carlo] Ancelotti has spoken about it, I’ve spoken about it and other Coaches have spoken about it.
“It’s a matter of sporting education. Sport in general is wonderful, football even more so because it attracts millions and millions of people.
“Rivalry is essential, but it has to be a healthy rivalry and that’s what we need to improve on in Italy.
“It’s right to cheer for your team, the lads need it, but everything else must be lived in another way. Maybe we’re getting there slowly, we’ve certainly improved, but rules are needed.”