02 September 2023
The last match for Juventus before the international break sees the team travel to Tuscany to face Empoli, with Sunday’s scheduled for 20:45 CEST.
The Bianconeri are aiming to return to winning ways following last week’s draw with Bologna, while Empoli are still in search of their first points of the 2023/24 campaign.
Coach Massimiliano Allegri addressed in the media in the pre-match press conference on Saturday, highlighting the potential danger this match could pose. “Tomorrow we will find an opponent who will try to earn their first points of the championship, so we expect a difficult game, as are all the ones we have faced and will have to face. Empoli shouldn't be underestimated, they have the DNA of a team that likes to play, we'll have to be solid. We want to return to Turin with the three points.”
Below are the main points touched on by the Juventus coach.
THE TEAM
“I have six defenders, including Dean Huijsen, and they are all reliable. Tomorrow Danilo and Gleison Bremer will definitely start, but I have to decide who will play between Alex Sandro and Federico Gatti. Nicolo Fagioli missed some of our pre-season training, but he is recovering after breaking his collarbone. In the future he could also occupy the role of regista, but at the moment that role is held by Manuel Locatelli and he is doing it well. I'm disappointed at hearing some boos at the Stadium on Sunday, directed at players who are always reliable and professional. I see Dusan Vlahovic as very calm, also because he is physically better, and then we know that when the forwards score, they are always fine. Dusan will score this year and I'm very serene about what his season will be like and the same goes for Federico Chiesa, Moise Kean and Arek Milik. Filip Kostic could also start tomorrow – he is a reliable player and last year he provided twelve assists and is improving a lot on shooting from distance. Paul Pogba is coming off an injury and his playing time needs to be managed because he hadn't played for a year. Good things are already being seen because Samuel Iling-Junior's assist for Vlahovic came from a good play by Paul. When Pogba is only at 70% he is still decisive, he is different from the others. Wojciech Szczesny is better following his knock, but he will come back only after the international break.”
EIGHT TEAMS, FOUR POSITIONS
“There are eight very strong teams this year, so we will need to be very good to qualify for the Champions League. This year's championship will be very balanced, in my opinion, and I think that to finish fourth you need to score 76 points and the Scudetto-winning total will be around 86-90 points. Napoli remain the favourites, but Milan and Inter are also two well-equipped teams. We will have to be at our best to be in the top four come the end of December to then push for our objectives over the second half of the campaign.”
TRANSFER MARKET
“We shared every market move with the Club: it didn't make sense to sign players just to "change faces". We also had the desire of maintaining a competitive and sustainable team, we have players who will grow compared to last year. We work every day to be competitive and then, as mentioned, there are our opponents; it will be a very difficult championship for every team.”
