Juventus welcome Roma to the Allianz Stadium for the second home fixture of the new season tomorrow August 27 at 18h30 CEST. Massimiliano Allegri spoke to the press on the eve of the showdown with the Giallorossi, a team the coach identified as a direct competitor.
HEAD ON
“Tomorrow is the first head-to-head, against a Roma side that is doing very well. José Mourinho is doing a great job, as he demonstrated winning the Europa Conference last season, and the team is taking his likeness.
"I expect an entertaining game. The backing of the fans will be essential against a team that is on form and will create difficulty for us.”
TIME WILL TELL
"Against Sampdoria we didn’t play well in the first half, but matches now last 95 minutes and what upset me was that when we took the upper hand we didn’t take our chances. We needed to capitalise in the second half, when we played much better. My enjoyment comes from winning and if we repeat our first half performance against Samp I won’t enjoy myself. Playing well is not enough if we don’t win. We need to play well and win matches.
"We need to reach our goals one step at a time. Over an entire season there will be tough matches like that at Samp, it’ll happen to every team. There is a great spirit in the team and I am happy with what we are doing. Only results will tell us if the squad is stronger than last season’s."
PLAYING SIDE
"Milik is a quality player, as shown by his excellent statistics. His arrival strengthens the frontline and in my opinion he could even play alongside Vlahovic. We are awaiting the last red tape to be cleared up to ok the transfer. If he’s free to play I might field him from the first minute - it’s an idea I’ve been playing around with.
"Bonucci felt something was not right with his right leg in training this morning, so we need to be cautious. We’ve got a match every three days, we need to have everyone fit, so he won’t be called up for tomorrow. The aim is to have him and Di Maria ready for the match in Florence next weekend. Szczesny is fit and available.
"Tomorrow we welcome Dybala as an opponent. He enjoyed some great seasons here so it will be good to see him again."