In the press conference, the Juventus coach presents the match against Sampdoria on Sunday evening: “A match that can take us to second place, overtaking Inter, because we have 50 points in the standings. Pogba is available, but I haven’t decided yet training apart from two sure: Perin and Vlahovic”
Fresh from the victory in the first leg of the Europa League round of 16 against Freiburg, it’s already time for Juventus to go back to thinking about the championship: currently seventh, -12 from the Champions League zone, the Bianconeri face the last-placed Sampdoria at home , in the postponement of Sunday evening, at 20.45.
Pogba available, Vlahovic owner
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“The match against Sampdoria is a match that apparently it would seem affordablebut not looking at their latest results: they have always lost by a small margin,” he explains at the press conference Massimiliano Allegri analyzing the possible pitfalls of the challenge against the last in the standings. “It’s a very important match for us because for the first time we could go second in the standings, because our ranking is the one that says we have 50 points, I say it and I repeat it, and we work on that. We have the possibility of overtaking Inter, which is the thing that counts. I look at what we did on the pitch, what happens outside shouldn’t interest us.”
“Pogba? It’s available, he’s not forever grounded because he made that late. I haven’t decided on the lineup yet apart from two: Perin in goal and Vlahovic in attack. He plays in midfield one tra Barrenechea and Paredes, I have to choose all the others. If Danilo rests? I have to evaluate Bonucci’s recovery and see Bremer’s condition. Football is strange, because Bonucci thought I’d let him play tomorrow, instead he played on Thursday due to Alex Sandro’s injury. We’ll see tomorrow morning. There will be the return of DeSciglio e you Shake. Church still has a nuisance and will not be available. We hope to have Milik for the match against Inter, Di Maria is completely rested and will be available on Thursday. Vlahovic is fully recovered, I’m happy with his performance against Freiburg and he’s much better. I’m very confident.”
The importance of points against “small”
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Looking beyond the championship, with the return of the Europa League match on Thursday, Allegri then speaks of an “important week, rather than a decisive one. The championship standings are made with the ‘small’ teams and you mustn’t miss these games. I was looking at the direct discounts: you lose one, you draw one, you win one. You make the difference with the little ones. And tomorrow is a very risky game. We need to make a quantum leap on this and it’s an important test for us.”
“The youngsters? They played this year. Pecorino is doing well, but he’s injured, Compagnon will join. Miretti or Soulé instead of Di Maria? I’ll evaluate tomorrow morning, I’ll keep a change on the front bench. We also have Iling who can be an offensive winger. Miretti is a classic midfielder, he is very good at getting out of the way and finding the position. In the future Fagioli will perhaps be able to go in front of the defence: we all had faith, I didn’t imagine him so mature. I think he needs to improve in the scoring phase, he can score a few more goals.”
In the end, on the penalty: “It is neither an obstacle nor a stimulus. We on the pitch have to score the points we need. Winning the championship is impossible, but we are in a position to overtake Inter”.