Massimiliano Allegri faced the world’s media this afternoon at a press conference ahead of Wednesday’s Italian Super Cup at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium.
Update on the team
“One of Douglas Costa or Federico Bernardeschi will play in place of Mario Mandzukic and both Cristiano Ronaldo and Paulo Dybala will play. An important change off the bench could be Moise Kean. Joao Cancelo is doing well, just like all of our midfielders, which gives me reason for hope ahead of our upcoming fixtures. Either Sami Khedira or Rodrigo Bentancur will start.”
Previous Super Cup losses
“It’s hard to say why. We lost two on penalties to Napoli and AC Milan and in the other we managed to come back from a losing position against Lazio. Tomorrow promises to be different and we will need a good performance. League form is put aside and it will be a big test – just like the cup game against Bologna and our opponents in the next round of the Coppa Italia, Atalanta. It will help us to prepare for the Round of 16 in the Champions League, as you need to approach knockout games in a different way.”
Ronaldo’s impact
“We have to win to have evidence of it. If we manage to win trophies, Ronaldo will have improved us; otherwise he won’t. Clearly a player like him is a benefit to any team and you need to make the most of it. However, let’s not forget that in the past four years we’ve played two Champions League finals against the best teams in the world of that era.”
The importance of the defence
“In order to win tomorrow we’ll need a lot of humility and respect for our opponents, something that Juventus have proved we have. This approach ensures you concentrate on the defensive side of things and this is a quality we mustn’t lose because to win the big games you need an excellent defence.”
Juventus' objective
“Our aim is to try to win every competition. You need a bit of luck on your side to do that and especially so in the Champions League, because the level is so high and there are a number of teams that can go far.”
(Photo Getty Images)
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Source: legaseriea.it