02 February 2016
Massimiliano Allegri says the Bianconeri can ill afford any slip-ups as they aim to extend their winning streak to 13 Serie A games when Genoa travel to Turin for tomorrow night’s encounter at Juventus Stadium.
Last weekend’s comprehensive 4-0 triumph over Chievo saw the Bianconeri momentarily leapfrog closest Scudetto rivals Napoli into top spot, only for the Partenopei to regain pole position following an equally formidable rout of Empoli later that afternoon.
The Juventus boss acknowledges that Maurizio Sarri’s men have no intentions of relinquishing their lofty perch at the summit of the table without a fight, meaning the Bianconeri will have to continue to push down on the accelerator over the coming months.
Speaking to the media in Vinovo, Allegri began: “Dropping points isn’t an option because we need to keep pace with Napoli. We have 16 games remaining and there’s minimal distance between the two at the top, so we can’t afford any slip-ups.
“We’ve also got to bear in mind that the others could come back into the reckoning. I still believe the Scudetto race will go down to the last six games of the season.”
Standing in the way of Juventus and a vital three points tomorrow night is a Genoa side whose form has drastically picked up since registering a dramatic 3-2 win over inter-city rivals Sampdoria at the turn of the year.
Unbeaten in their last four Serie A matches, Gian Piero Gasperini’s men head to Turin full of confidence and Allegri is expecting the Rossoblu to make life difficult for his charges on home turf.
“Playing against Gasperini’s sides is never straightforward. They’re an organised outfit and one full of important individuals such as Pavoletti, who is having a great season.”
One of many positives that the Bianconeri take into Wednesday’s match is the excellent condition of the group of the whole, an aspect that leaves Allegri confident regarding his team selection for the encounter.
The injury to Mario Mandzukic has been offset by the return to goalscoring form of Alvaro Morata and with three valid attacking options to choose from, the boss says he will be using all the weapons in his armoury over the next two games.
“The lads are in good form both physically and psychologically. I still need to have a good think about things after today’s training session, but what matters is that everyone’s ready to guarantee a good team performance, regardless of who gets the nod.
“I have three options available to me in attack and I’ll shuffle my pack in the next two games. Zaza missed out on Sunday as a precaution after taking a knock in training, but he’s fit and ready to play tomorrow. Pereyra’s in the squad but needs a training ground friendly under his belt.”
