08 April 2022
Ahead of Juve’s visit to Cagliari tomorrow, Saturday 9 April, with kick off scheduled for 20h45 CEST, Massimiliano Allegri spoke to the press, and apart from covering player availability, the coach pressed home the importance of collecting all three points.
COMPLEX FIXTURE
"Tomorrow is a very complicated game. Cagliari are coming off the back of a heavy defeat and they have always made life difficult for their opponents. It has never been easy to go to Sardinia and win, and it will be a completely different match to the one against Inter."
"It’ll be hard fought, but we need the three points because Roma are only five points behind us and there are still plenty of games to play. Our aim is to finish the season in the top four, so we need to go out and win because should Roma gain more points on us, it would become a different story.
"We don’t want to go from being outsiders for the league title to having only a two point advantage for the Champions League next season."
TEAM UPDATE
"Today is our last training session before setting off for Sardinia, which I’ll use to decide whether to adopt a two or three-man midfield. Adrien Rabiot plays better in a two man midfield because he has plenty of running and it suits his physical game. Against Inter he played well technically, playing forward passes more often. At times, depending on the opponents, we’ll need to play with three in midfield, so he might not play as well, but someone else will step up."
"Manuel Locatelli is injured, and will be absent for a month or so. Mattia De Sciglio and Alvaro Morata are suspended. We have players out, so the choice is limited but we are physically fit and healthy. Leonardo Bonucci is feeling a lot better, but I haven’t decided whether he’ll start or not. It would be useful to have Weston McKennie back available before the end of the season. We’ll see how his recovery goes in a month or so."
SHARPENING UP
"I believe each team is in the position it deserves. We currently deserve to be fourth, but we must improve. We have time during the week to work on how to correct certain aspects, both as a team and on an individual level. We have been lacking sharpness in front of goal, and it’s something we are working on to improve from now to the end of the season."
"In our three best matches, Atalanta, Villareal and Inter at home, we suffered little, but failed to take our chances, and paid the price. It is possible to lose one or two matches in this way, but three becomes a problem."
"Our aim is that come the end of the season we have finished in the top four and have a chance to play in the final of the Italian Cup. Every player must help the team achieve these goals. We must remain focused and ensure we achieve our objectives."
