25 July 2016
Having taken on Melbourne Victory on Saturday – a match which Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri described as a good warm-up for his players – the Bianconeri will now look to take their pre-season preparations to the next level in their second outing of this year’s International Champions Cup in Australia, when Tottenham Hotspur provide the opposition at Melbourne Cricket Grand.
After resting Miralem Pjanic, Medhi Benatia and Roberto Pereyra against their Australian opponents two days ago, Allegri revealed that the experienced trio would feature in tomorrow’s fixture against last season’s third-placed side in the English Premier League in a game the 48-year-old tactician predicted would provide his players with a different challenge to that posed by Kevin Muscat’s Victory outfit.
“Tomorrow all three of Pjanic, Benatia and Pereyra will play,” Allegri began. “We’ll probably go with four at the back with Alex Sandro or one of the younger lads on the right.
“I’ll look to give more game time to whoever starts from the first whistle. It’ll be a different kind of match to the one against Victory and an important test for us in terms of giving continuity to our preparations.”
Joining his boss in previewing Tuesday’s friendly tussle with Tottenham was new signing Benatia, who admitted that he was reaping the benefits of putting in the hard yards with his new club upon joining on loan from Bayern Munich nine days ago.
“I’m training well and I’m ready to play,” opened the Moroccan international defender. “The best way of dealing with tomorrow’s match is to approach it as if it were a league game. Tottenham is a top side, who had an excellent Premier League season and they’ve plenty of quality among their ranks.
“Games such as these are important in terms of getting in shape for the start of a season in which we want to maintain that winning feeling and aim to triumph in every competition.”
