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Massimiliano Allegri wants his Juventus team to show “personality” as they look to defend their first-leg lead away at Sporting CP in the Europa League.
The Bianconeri claimed a 1-0 victory at the Allianz Stadium last week thanks to a Federico Gatti strike as they bid to lift the Europa League for a fourth time, a win that would move them up to second in the all-time rankings behind Sevilla’s six.
However, they still have to get past a Sporting side who have already dumped out Premier League leaders Arsenal and are unbeaten in their last six at home in all competitions.
Allegri knows his side will have to show a strong mentality to preserve their slender advantage at the Estadio Jose Alvalade on Thursday, telling Sky Sport Italia: “You need to have personality, speed and calmness.
“The match is long and will give us difficulties, they are an excellent team in terms of organisation.
“The goal is important and not simple, Sporting eliminated Arsenal. We don’t think about the first leg but that is a challenge.”
Juve will now find out just before their match in Portugal kicks off whether their 15-point deduction in Serie A for financial breaches will stand after the results of the finding were pushed back from Wednesday to Thursday,
Allegri, though, is keen for his players to focus on the big game ahead of them, saying: “We knew that today was an important day, both in terms of the ruling and his outcome, but above all to better prepare for tomorrow’s match.
“Once we know about the ruling, we put it aside and we’ll think about the match.”
While Allegri revealed Federico Chiesa was a doubt for the game, he had positive news on Adrien Rabiot and Wojciech Szczesny, explaining: “Szczesny is fine, he’s fine. Rabiot is available, he’s done all the training.”
Juve suffered a 1-0 league defeat at Sassuolo on Sunday with midfielder Nicolo Fagioli, who was at fault for the winning goal after his poor clearance, left in tears on the bench after being ruthlessly substituted off by Allegri following the mistake.
Full-back Alex Sandro showed solidarity for his 22-year-old team-mate ahead of the Sporting clash, telling reporters: “It’s good to cry sometimes. We have to respect Fagioli’s and everyone’s reaction after victories and defeats.
“Fagioli is young, but he already has experience. He is not the future, but the present of Juve.”
