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Allegri: Juve yet to qualify for the Final

Manager’s pre-match comments ahead of second leg of semi-final

AS Monaco v Juventus - UEFA Champions League Semi Final: First Leg Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images

Juventus take on Monaco tomorrow in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final tie. Despite holding a 2-0 away lead, manager Massimiliano Allegri insisted that the fixture was still wide-open.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Allegri called for caution.

“Tomorrow we’re playing against Monaco and we still have to qualify for the final.

“We have to win in order to get to Cardiff. Monaco have nothing to lose, they have players that can cause great difficulties.”

Dani Alves was excellent in the first leg putting on two assists for Gonzalo Higuain.

“Dani Alves? He’s in a good run of form, like the rest of the team. After his injury, we found an important player that brings us experience.”

Regarding his starting lineup for the game -

“Tomorrow’s choices? I still have to decide whether to play Andrea Barzagli or Juan Cuadrado.

Claudio Marchisio can be a great gamechanger, like Miralem Pjanic was on Saturday.”

How will the Bianconeri approach the game?

“What must Juve do tomorrow? Play an aggressive game, play well technically and even better than we did in Monaco, where we were often wrong, with more patience.

“Still, we’re in a beautiful spell. We’re in full swing.

“We still have to win the Scudetto, so we’ll think about getting to the final in Cardiff first and then Roma.”

Juve came very close to losing their unbeaten streak at J Stadium on Saturday.

“The point against Torino? It was crucial not to drop points on Saturday. We won 33 times in a row at home, and sooner or later it had to stop.

“Games are there to be won, but when you can’t, it’s important not to lose them.

“What mustn’t be done tomorrow? We mustn’t worry about winning by force, but at the same time we have to play the match as if it was a dry one.

“We have to face it with that mentality.”