On the eve of AC Milan’s visit to the Allianz Stadium to take on Juventus on Serie A Matchday 34, with kick-off set for 18:00 CEST on Saturday evening, men’s first-team Coach Massimiliano Allegri gave his usual pre-match press conference.
ADVANCING IN THE ITALIAN CUP
“By reaching the final we’ve partly achieved a goal we had for the season. Now, before the Italian Cup final, we have three important matches in our pursuit of Champions League qualification. We did better in the first half of this season than in the second, and against Lazio the other night we made some technical mistakes initially and conceded two goals, but then we had some good chances.”
ON MILAN
“Winning against Milan would keep our hopes of finishing second alive, and that would be a great thing and would give us that extra motivation at the end of the season. There are still 15 points to play for, we know we have to play well tomorrow and get back to winning ways. Juventus against Milan is always a big game, it’s always important. It’ll be a game against a good team, with good players and who are well coached.”
SEASON GOALS
“I have a great relationship with the guys, they’re all good professionals and they care a lot about the shirt they wear. We all want to achieve our goals together. We have to be focused on what we have to do, and reaching the Champions League is hugely important for the club.”
THE GROUP
“We’ve been a strong side this season. When you’re at Juventus, you have to have the ambition to win. Then, it’s important to play in the Champions League and by qualifying again this year, Juventus would never have finished outside of the Champions League qualification places based on points picked up. For us to reach the goals set at the beginning of the season would be a success.”
TEAM NEWS
“[Gleison] Bremer had a slight injury against Cagliari but he’s better now, tomorrow morning I’ll make a decision on him. We’ve got a lot of energy back and we’ll be ready to play well. Lately [Federico] Chiesa has been playing a bit more, and he’s someone who can always find a solution. [Kenan] Yildiz is in okay too, I’ll evaluate him tomorrow as well.”