14 January 2022
The day before Juventus welcome Udinese to the Stadium, Massimiliano Allegri cast his eye on the Serie A fixture scheduled to kick off at 20h45 CET on Saturday, January 15th.
SWITCHED ON “Tomorrow we are up against a physical side that defends well. We’ll need to be patient and switched on so we can invert the trend this season against the smaller sides. It will be a completely different match to those against Roma and Inter.”
DEFENSIVE DUTIES
“Tomorrow there will be some changes to the team. Everyone is ok apart from Danilo, still not 100%, and Leonardo Bonucci, whose injury has flared up again. He won’t be available until after the international break.
“Giorgio Chiellini will be rested, so Daniele Rugani and Matthijs De Ligt will play. Luca Pellegrini could start and Juan Cuadrado returns from suspension. Mattia De Sciglio and Alex Sandro are also available.”
FATHER FIGURE
“I’ve practically raised Dybala. He arrived here under my wing from Palermo when he was still young. Injury limited his impact the first half of this season. We expect a lot from him in the second half. His quality is not in question.
“I’ve always said contracts are a club matter, but if a player is still under contract he is obliged to give his all so he can convince the club to renew his deal or create appeal to other clubs. There is only one way to do that and it is by performing on the pitch.”
MIDFIELD MILES
”Weston McKennie covered 16kms on Wednesday. He is invigorated and has improved, just like the rest of the team. We can’t let the pace drop in matches no matter the opposition.
“I thought Adrien Rabiot played well against Inter. He was asked to mark Nicolo Barella and did a good job. He really sacrificed himself for the team.”
STANDOUT MOMENT
“The match that most stands out in my time here was the game in Madrid [Champions League, April 2018], when we almost completed the comeback. I remember great games against Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern Munich but that one against Real was truly memorable.”
