10 March 2018
It's no time to rest for Juve as the Bianconeri begin a crucial stretch of three Serie A matches in seven days before the final international break of the season. This all-important stretch begins on Sunday at Allianz Stadium against Udinese and here's what the boss told the media at Saturday's pre-match press conference:
TEAM NEWS
"The squad is good. We have two suspended players in Stephan Lichtsteiner and Alex Sandro but the rest are ready apart from Juan Cuadrado and Federico Bernardeschi."
"Today, Cuadrado is visiting Germany to get an opinion on when he can resume and what condition he’s in. As for Bernardeschi, on Monday he will begin his recuperation and after 20 days we will know if we have to operate or, we hope, that he will prepare to re-join the team."
"De Sciglio is doing well and will come back in tomorrow with Asamoah as the other full back. Szczesny will play in goal and then I’ll evaluate who plays in the middle and up front."
"Mario Mandzukic is recovered and he could start but I still have to evaluate."
"Benedikt Howedes is doing well and played a full game for the first time in a while when we returned from London. He is a player that will certainly play his part, but he doesn’t have a whole game in his legs yet."
FOCUSED ON THE TASK AT HAND
"Rather than think about a ‘turning point’ we have to think about what we need to do tomorrow which is try and get three points against a difficult opponent in Udinese.
They’re a physical and aggressive team who has committed the third-most fouls in the league, so we have to bring a strong effort. Maybe we will rotate the squad some but we have no other choice but to win.
At the moment we are still behind Napoli and, while there are three games in the next week, Napoli are still ahead of us. Let’s take everything one game at a time. We really need the backing of the whole stadium tomorrow, because we will have moments of difficulty coming from a match that took a lot out of us physically and mentally."
TURNING THE PAGE
"It was an excellent and extraordinary result for everyone on Wednesday. First, the team won on a historic stage of football that is Wembley, so we have to congratulate them, but at the same time we haven’t done anything yet.
We are still in second in the Scudetto while in the Champions League, we are in the quarter-finals. This is an extraordinaty achievement and we are also in the Coppa Italia final, but at the moment we haven’t won anything yet."
IMPORTANCE OF JUVE VETERANS
"Buffon, Barzagli, Chiellini, Lichtsteiner and Marchisio are five of the veterans who have done great things at the club. First of all they are important at the technical level, but above all at the professional level and inside the locker room.
They have help all the new players who come and don't know Juventus to understand this club. I would say that as long as they are here, it's an advantage for everyone. For me, for the club and for the fans. They are really extraordinary players."
