Pirlo: “We will play our cards.”

It’s not long to go until the Derby d’Italia kicks off at San Siro on Sunday evening, and in light of the big occasion, Coach Andrea Pirlo addressed invited media in a remote press conference where he previewed the fixture.

Here is what he had to say:

DERBY D’ITALIA

I expect an aggressive Inter tomorrow, who will want to give rhythm to the game. But we are Juventus and we want to go to Milan to play our game. We will try to win. Also, in this case, it will be important but not fundamental for the championship. We are aware of Inter's strength, but we will play our cards. Tomorrow's match would give us an important boost, which goes beyond the three points at stake. There is great attention and great concentration, Inter is a great team who has strengthened itself. Ourselves and Inter have different philosophies at the moment, but we will fight until the end for the championship.

PLAYER UPDATES

The injured players are training with the team, but we are waiting for the result of the swabs. Chiellini is fine, he is ready, energised, and he wants to play. We are happy that he is available, he's an added value for us. We have many solutions for tomorrow, which we have studied in detail. McKennie is not 100% but he's doing well enough, we will evaluate how we can play him. Ramsey is fine, he has no problem in taking to the field tomorrow. De Ligt’s absence? He is an important player, but we have great champions in that role. Morata is fine, we would have liked to avoid letting him play 120 minutes on Wednesday but we complicated our lives. However, he has recovered, and he is ready.

CONTE’S INFLUENCE

I learnt a lot from Conte, I'm grateful to him, he taught me so many things and made me want to be a coach, but tomorrow we will be opponents. Conte and I are two different characters, maybe that's why we always got along well. We spoke at the beginning of the season: great esteem and great affection remain. He formed part of Juventus' history and gave me so much

PIRLO’S OUTLOOK

I think a coach should be considered for the complexity of the work he does every day, as well as for the results of the matches and the mistakes that are made. Matches are difficult to play and interpret, especially when played every three days. We need to work on the smallest details, which are what make the difference. Putting pressure on us is normal, it suits us well, we are Juventus, and we must get used to it. Against the big teams the concentration is always at a maximum. I have seen the guys very eager, I'm calm...