Massimiliano Allegri confirms that Giorgio Chiellini and Paulo Dybala will be available against Villarreal tomorrow and believes Alvaro Morata has more freedom with Dusan Vlahovic.
Dybala and Chiellini remained on the sidelines for over a month due to muscle injuries but will be back to action tomorrow night against Villarreal.
“Chiellini, Dybala and Bernardeschi return. Hopefully, we’ll win in 90 minutes. Otherwise, we’ll need extra time. Substitutions will be important,” Allegri said at a press conference.
“Bonucci is out, he played at Empoli and against Villarreal despite not feeling well. He has a calf problem and can’t get over it. Alex Sandro felt something in the soleus muscle, it’s tricky, so I won’t take any risk. It’s not the last game of the season.”
The Brazilian defender had returned to action last week against Sampdoria.
“We’ll assess Zakaria in the next few days, he could return on Thursday or after the break. We have the last two efforts and then we’ll have some time to recover,” Allegri added.
Juventus picked up a 1-1 draw in Spain three weeks ago, so they’ll need a win in Turin tomorrow to qualify for the quarter-finals.
“I have clear ideas, hopefully, I’ll get it right. The team is feeling well. It’s the decisive moment of the season,” the coach continued.
“We must have the ambition to reach the final, it’s a target we have so we must try. If we are good and lucky, we’ll make it, if the others are better than us, we won’t make it. We can’t have regrets, tomorrow is like a final that we play at home.
“Vlahovic will play, Morata is in good form and he’s always had quality. He was always criticised despite playing in a position that was not his natural one. I am happy with him, he is playing well with Vlahovic, he has more freedom on the pitch. We all feel well, we’ll also need a bit of luck to qualify.”
Juventus are the best team in Italy in 2022, having collected 22 points in the process. They had a terrible start to the season with just two points in four games. Which is the secret behind Juventus’ development?
“The lads are doing well, we’ve become a solid group and it’s thanks to them,” the coach said.
“However, we’ve done nothing so far. We can’t lose balance, we must keep our feet on the ground and take a step at a time. The target was to get to March and play for our targets. We are here, there’s adrenaline, fans will have to help us.
“Villarreal are an experienced team, with a very good coach. They concede almost nothing, we must make as few mistakes as possible and prepare the game well. We took some risks in Spain, but we also had a few chances to double the lead.
“The ball is smaller and heavier in March, it’s a funny moment of the season. We are in the race for three targets, now we need to reach them.”
Juventus were eliminated in the Champions League Round of 16 in the last two seasons under Maurizio Sarri and Andrea Pirlo. Massimiliano Allegri was in charge of the team when Juventus reached the quarter-finals in 2019. They were eliminated by Ajax, who won in Turin with a goal of Matthijs de Ligt.
Danilo-Rugani-De Ligt-Pellegrini
Bernardeschi-Rabiot-Locatelli-Cuadrado
Morata-Vlahovic
best starting xi possible for the game imo
Bernardeschi is terrible, don’t know what anyone sees in him.
@Ryan, would you rather have Rabiot at LW? Dybala, Arthur Melo and Kean on the bench as subs incase we fall behind and are chasing the game
Arthur is in quite good form, should be a starter
@alex I agree with your line up to the point of Bernardeschi. He has not played in a whole month and there is no way he should start. Artur would be a much better option. Morata and Vlahovic are the best option in attack. Dybala and Chelo should be introduced in the later stages of the game. Pellegrini has to be careful tomorrow because he can get carried away with picking up cards. Must win tomorrow though.
Unleash the Morata-Vlahovic-Dybala trident.
Reminds me about the Ravanelli-Vialli-Del Piero trident from the 90´s.
Then Locatelli-Arthur-Rabiot in midfield
Defence: Danilo-De Ligt-Chiellini-Cuadrado
LETS GO!!!