20 January 2019
After their the Italian Super Cup win in Jeddah, Juventus make their return to Serie A action, as they prepare to face Chievo Verona tomorrow night (20:30 CET). It will also be the Bianconeri's first home match of 2019, and ahead of the game, Massimiliano Allegri spoke to the press in his usual pre-match conference today.
THE OPPOSITION
"Chievo have achieved five draws in their last seven matches, also claiming a victory and a defeat. They have rediscovered their belief for survival, so we have to be focused because they will keep believing until the end. Tomorrow, we have to play in an aggressive game and go make a strong impact immediately, we have to be ready, whilst also making sure we play with a lot of respect for our opponents. We've won our first trophy and we've entered the second stage of the season. Right now, the biggest risk is to rest on our laurels, which would risk compromising everything in a short time."
THE LINE-UP
"Some players will be rotated following our last game. Perin will start tomorrow, whilst in defence one between Chiellini and Bonucci will remain and Rugani will play in their place, on the right there will be De Sciglio and on the left Alex Sandro. In the midfield, we can go with either two or three, if we go with the former then Douglas Costa and Bernardeschi will both start, otherwise only one of them will feature from the off; Khedira will be like a January signing for us.
"We always create chances during the games, and because of the characteristics of the players we have available to us, often our play is quicker than ever before. The players that I have at my disposal are all in good condition, we will try to have Mandzukic back for the match against Lazio, but it's difficult. Barzagli is still working and recovering, Benatia is still out for an inflammation, Cuadrado isn't available and Pjanic has suffered a calf injury, but he is suspended for tomorrow night anyway, he's improving and has a week to recover."
GROWTH MARGINS
"Every day, you keep your foot on the accelerator to reach all the goals. The hardest thing is to fight for the league title, whilst the Champions League is completely different. This is our strength, our ability to continue to work hard to improve and the growth of the players when they come here proves this. As for what we can improve upon on the pitch, we can do better in closing out games, otherwise we run a risk. This is true both in one-off games and in Serie A."
