Massimiliano Allegri set the stage for the return leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final tomorrow, Wednesday 20 April, at the Allianz Stadium with kick off scheduled for 21h00 when he addressed the press on the eve of the big match.
TEAM CHOICES
“I’ll decide who’ll play after tomorrow’s training session. I haven’t decided anything yet other than that both Leonardo Bonucci and Mattia Perin will start. All the players that are available are all ready to play.”
“We only have two midfielders in Denis Zakaria and Adrien Rabiot. Arthur has not recovered. Danilo and Fabio Miretti are also available to help out if necessary in the centre of the park.”
“As for the attack, I still haven’t decided who’ll play between Dusan Vlahovic, Alvaro Morata, Paulo Dybala and Moise Kean.”
FIORENTINA FORM
“The away leg was a tight encounter, but tomorrow it will be a completely different match.”
“Fiorentina are on form so it will be a tough, intense game. They are having a great season because their coach Vincenzo Italiano is confirming his excellent work last season with Spezia. They have recently won at Napoli and put on an important performance in Milan against Inter.”
“The result from the first leg changes the situation little, because Fiorentina create so many chances. They are a team that over the opening 60 to 70 minutes play at great pace, so it’s important we hold our own. They are aiming for the final, but so are we. Our advantage is that we know we’ll get through with either a draw or a win.”
CONSTANT ANALYSIS
"Criticism is good because it stimulates the environment. We are at Juventus, we are always under observation and under pressure. On Sunday we drew a match despite creating a number of good chances. We need to improve on being in 10th place for goals scored. We need to be sharper in front of goal, but it’s more a psychological question than a lack of technique."
"We need to draw conclusions on how to improve for next season, for example, why we didn’t win matches in which we played better, but first we have two objectives in the remaining matches - to finish in the top four in Serie A and reach the final of the Coppa Italia. We know how much work and effort we put into reaching our goals, at times though it may not be enough, but that doesn’t mean the method is wrong."
"We still have 35 important days ahead of us even if some fatigue is beginning to set in. No one thought that going into the match at the Olimpico against Roma in January that Juve would be five points clear in fourth place with five matches to play. The odd thing about the Coppa Italia is that if you win it, it apparently doesn’t count for much, but if you lose, it suddenly becomes important."
"Tomorrow we have the opportunity to reach the final and we want to take it."