21 October 2017
ALWAYS IMPORTANT AGAINST UDINESE
“Whenever we’ve faced Udinese in the past, it’s almost always come at crucial moments in the season. Tomorrow’s match is no different: Udinese are on the hunt for points, while we need to win and make sure that we play in a far more careful manner than usual.
“We’ve been scoring more goals this term, but also conceding more often, so that is something we must improve on. Udinese, meanwhile, are a physical side, who also have some very technical and talented individuals in the team.”
TEAM NEWS FOR TOMORROW
“[Paulo] Dybala is in good shape, both physically and mentally, and he will play tomorrow. The same goes for [Gianluigi] Buffon, whilst [Giorgio] Chiellini is 99 per cent certain to play too.
“[Daniele] Rugani comes back into my line-up, [Claudio] Marchisio is called up to the squad, and I’ll decide on Douglas Costa’s involvement tomorrow.”
SITUATION ON THE SIDELINES
“[Blaise] Matuidi is out after picking up a strain in his flexor muscles during today’s training session. Meanwhile, I don’t believe that [Stefano] Sturaro has anything serious, but we’ll evaluate his condition over the next days.
“[Mattia] De Sciglio will be back training with the team on Monday, [Benedikt] Howedes is making good progress too, and [Marko] Pjaca will be able to get minutes under his belt with the Primavera over the coming weeks.”
A WORD ON THE SCUDETTO RIVALS
“Napoli and Inter, who are both ahead of us, are playing excellently at the moment. I hope that they play out a draw tonight, even if the most important thing is that we make sure we win our own match this weekend.
“We have to watch out for Roma, Milan and Lazio too, even if I believe that it will ultimately be a three-horse race for the Scudetto between ourselves, Napoli and Inter.”
