29 April 2023
Juventus return to Serie A action this weekend and look to bounce back against Bologna after the disappointment of missing out on a Coppa Italia final berth in midweek.
Massimiliano Allegri addressed the press that had gathered at the Allianz Stadium in the pre-match conference ahead of the final training session before the squad departs for Emilia.
EYE ON BOLOGNA
"We’re having a poor run with five defeats in our last six games. Tomorrow offers us a chance to turn things around. However, tomorrow is going to be very difficult, Thiago Motta is doing an excellent job at Bologna, so we have to play with our attention high.
"There are 35 important days ahead of us - we need to work hard and make them count. We need a reaction.
"The aim was to get to this point of the season, March and April, still in contention on all fronts - and we achieved this. We have the Europa League final in our sights. A club like ours has to be in the Champions League next year, also for financial reasons, so we must finish in the top four in Serie A, if possible taking second place, which would be an improvement on last season."
TEAM NEWS
"We're not on top form, which is natural when you have players returning from lengthy lay-offs. [Federico] Chiesa is an extraordinary player who is coming back after a long time out. [Paul] Pogba is in the same boat, he's not yet back to his best. I would like to have the Pogba I coached in my first spell here but right now it's not like that.
“The up side of the misfortune of having players like Pogba, Chiesa, also Vlahovic injured, thanks to the work of the club over the past ten years, there are so many players, like [Matias] Soulé, [Nicolò] Fagioli, [Fabio] Miretti, [Samuel] Iling, who have come through and clocked up a lot of playing time."
THE SEASON RUN-IN
"There's always a lot of speculation surrounding Juventus. The only thing for us to do is stop talking and work hard. The difficult period is now, not when we were deducted 15 points, and I'm not just talking about the team. We all need to be united, rock-solid.
"I knew when I came back here that it would have been a big ask to win right away. We lost both finals last year and this year we've brought through a number of youngsters. It always depends from what perspective you assess the season. We do our upmost to overcome the challenges in life, for us this means getting back to winning ways."
