Tomorrow night the final countdown for the end of the season officially begins for Juventus. At 6pm, at Allianz Stadium, the Bianconeri will host Empoli.
Today, Massimiliano Allegri presented the match at a press conference. “Tomorrow's match is very important, a game that must be won and tackled with great aggression and concentration. Empoli for 60-65 minutes will give us a hard time, they are a team that is doing well and is yet to reach their goal. The Scudetto still has five victories to go: we have to do the first one.”
THE FORMATION OF TOMORROW
"Szczesny will be in the goal. In defence, two between Chiellini, Caceres and Rugani will play. Bonucci will be rested. In midfield, it is likely that Matuidi will play with Bentancur on the bench, at least at the beginning. Mandzukic, Bernardeschi and Dybala are likely to start in attack. Without Ronaldo the hierarchy of taking penalties is: Dybala, Pjanic and Emre Can. As for the set-pieces, on one side Pjanic can kick them, on the other Dybala and Bernardeschi.”
RONALDO, DYBALA AND KEAN
“Ronaldo is fine, but caution is needed. We are in a delicate phase: he will return when he is well and there will be no danger that he may have a relapse. We will do a check on Monday to evaluate him. Dybala? I talked to Paulo. He knows that this is an important month and Juventus needs the real Dybala. He has always been important for us this season; playing and sacrificing. He will definitely have a great season finale. As for Kean, he needs to be calm. He is growing and needs a normal path.”
RUGANI'S RENEWAL
"He is a very responsible boy, he has grown a lot, he is one of the eight Juventus players from Italy. He is important (to us) and the club did well to renew his contract.”
TOUCHING ON THE INJURED
"Douglas Costa is recovering and on Monday he will undergo a test to see if he will be available in the Champions League, or maybe even against Milan. Barzagli is working. We will have Cuadrado back in about ten days. Khedira has to be evaluated because he is a little behind and De Sciglio has been called up for tomorrow.”