Allegri: Giorgio Chiellini definitely out for Juve vs. Milan on Friday

Juventus host AC Milan on Friday night in what is usually an epic battle no matter how low the Rossoneri are in the table. Manager Massimiliano Allegri, given the boot at Milan, always enjoys playing against his former employers and spoke to the media ahead of tomorrow’s game.

“Giorgio Chiellini definitely won’t play. It's certain Chiellini won't play tomorrow. We'll see against Porto, but it's very difficult.

“Leonardo Bonucci will play, then one of Daniele Rugani, Medhi Benatia or Andrea Barzagli, with Benatia a little ahead of the other two.

“Will Marko Pjaca replace Juan Cuadrado? I honestly haven’t decided, I’ll assess whether to play Pjaca today in the last training session, if he’s on the bench I’ll play with an extra midfielder.

“I have a few things to assess today. After today I’ll have much clearer ideas and then I’ll decide definitively.”

Milan always treat games against Juve like a final, but do the Bianconeri have the same motivation playing against inferior opponents?

“Could Milan spring a tactical surprise? I don’t know how Vincenzo Montella will play, but his style of play is pretty well outlined.

“What could change is those interpreting it. You can play with the same system, but if you change the interpreters than the characteristics of the players can also change.

“Right now they don’t have Giacomo Bonaventura, but they have a different player like Gerard Deulofeu who is very good in one-on-ones, in opening up games.

“They also have physical players in midfield, so it will be a very difficult game.”

Juve dropped points away at Udinese last weekend, how did Allegri feel about the draw?

“It’s not ok, because we played a bad game in Udine. I was convinced that we could come out of a bad game, but we had to come out with a win. We accept the draw, we gained a point on Roma but we know it’s a long season with 11 games still to go.

“There are head-to-head games, many wins to be achieved, so tomorrow we have to tough physically and technically, and above all bring home three points, because victory tomorrow would mean one game less to the Scudetto.

“As for mental and physical fatigue, first of all we’re coming off 10 games where Juventus have won 10 in a row. We played Atalanta, Milan, Napoli in the Coppa Italia; we had the match with Porto, the one with Inter, we had Sassuolo, Lazio, Fiorentina. We had an important period where the team responded well.

“There can be a game where you play less well and it seems like you’re tired, but that’s not the case as the team is in excellent condition. We played a bad game, and these are the most important matches of the season because you have to bring home three points when you’re not playing well.

“The lads were a bit lucky, because in the end we got a point which allowed us to increase our advantage over Roma, though there’s still a very long way to go. You can’t play 38 games well and on the same level, there are games where you’ll have to win while playing poorly. And it’s difficult to play well against Udinese in Udine.

“Udinese were coming off three defeats, they had a week to prepare so they had plenty of motivation. Juventus came to town and it was the right time to play a physical, pressing game the way they did.

“We needed to have a bit more patience when we got to 1-1, we still had 35 minutes to win it.”

The manager was also asked if he watched Barcelona’s big comeback last night in the Champions League.

“Barcelona? Firstly, it was a great night of football. It was a beautiful evening of football which I think will remain in the annals of football history, because I don’t think any team has ever pulled off such a good comeback.

“It wasn’t easy for them, it was a good and very intense game. It wasn’t great technically, compared to what Barcelona have always shown the world, but that’s why football is beautiful. It’s strange, there are situations no-one can predict.

“Above all that should make us understand and reflect that on Tuesday we have a game [against Porto] where we have a two-goal lead, we have an eight point lead but the League is not over.

“So we have to take things one game at a time, without looking at what might happen in there months. Tomorrow there’s a game between Juventus and Milan.

“Milan are coming off two positive results, they’re a team which never dies, they’re sly, they can seem to be out of a game but they have great speed and technique. Aside from that, it’s always Juventus-Milan.

“Despite the gap in points there has been in recent seasons, games between Juventus and Milan have always been close.”

How about the possibility of facing Barca in the quarter-finals of the Champions League?

“Barcelona… with all due respect to Paris Saint-Germain, to have them in the Quarter-Finals… we still have to get there, by the way… but still, to have them in the Quarter-Finals isn’t pleasing.

“Something like what happened to Barcelona in Paris, where they lost 4-0, doesn’t happen every year, or even every five years.

“So it’s normal that now Barcelona are favourites to win the Champions League along with Bayern [Munich] and Real Madrid.”