Allegri: Juve have no more time to lose

Juventus play Lazio tomorrow in the Coppa Italia Final for a shot at the first title in a historic treble attempt. Manager Massimiliano Allegri spoke about the Bianconeri’s crucial period coming up ahead of the game.

“This is a Final and after last Sunday we have no more time to lose. We will face a Lazio side who have had an extraordinary campaign.

“I need to evaluate both Mandzukic and Dybala. Tonight I will decide on the line-up, but the 11 players I do choose will have a strong performance.

“Dybala had muscular problems after Monaco and I have to be absolutely sure that nothing else happens to him. There are days when you need to win and can’t get away from that.

“I rested Juan Cuadrado, while Gonzalo Higuain didn’t play against Torino. Sami Khedira played a lot this season, Claudio Marchisio has recovered and is fine.

“We played with four at the back against Monaco. I have to decide if Andrea Barzagli and Dani Alves play, and how. I need to consider many things today. We will certainly be concentrated, no matter who plays.”

Allegri fielded a weakened side over the weekend and Juve failed to clinch the Serie A title at the first attempt losing at Roma -

“I’d make all those choices again. So far the squad rotation has rewarded us, but the difference on Sunday was in the details. In the end, you can lose in these situations. When you aren’t quite as focused, the other team can take advantage.

“We won’t make that mistake with Lazio, who have a quality squad. Simone Inzaghi is really bright, he learned things very quickly and will go far, because he is very practical.

“Tomorrow is the start of a 20-day mini-season. If we finish the Serie A campaign with 91 points, it’d be an excellent result, though Roma and Napoli could come close to us.

“It’s natural over the course of a long season to have a dip in form and unfortunately it happened against Roma. I would’ve been happy at the start of the season to have a four-point advantage at this stage.

“Tactics and technique no longer count right now, what we have to do is recharge the physical and psychological batteries. We haven’t won anything yet.”