Allegri: Cancelo out till after winter break

Juventus will be hoping for a bounceback performance as they take on local rivals Torino in the Derby della Mole. Juve slipped to a shock 2-1 defeat in the Champions League midweek away at Young Boys, and manager Massimiliano Allegri was very relieved that his side still won Group H, but also knows that sixth-position Torino come into this game higher-placed than they have in recent years.

“We’ll be playing a team who have lost only three games in the League. They’re doing very well and they had a good game against Milan.

“We must give continuity to our results. We have four games until the end of the first round.

“Tomorrow will be a difficult match, so we’ll have to find the right energies to face Torino.”

Fullback Joao Cancelo had to have surgery for is knee issue and will miss a few weeks.

“Cancelo did the meniscus in his knee this morning, so he’ll have surgery tonight or tomorrow and he’ll be back after the winter break.

“Juan Cuadrado has a knee problem and we’ll decide whether he needs surgery too. However, there is some positive news: Emre Can is back, Sami Khedira returns next week and Leonardo Spinazzola is doing fine.

“Ronaldo will miss one of our three games against Roma, Atalanta and Sampdoria. I’ve told him that.

“Perin will play tomorrow.”

Medhi Benatia hasn’t played much this season, is there some friction between him and the manager?

“No problem’s ever existed with Benatia. He returned to the squad yesterday and is available again so I’m happy.

“Benatia, along with Daniele Rugani, Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci and Andrea Barzagli, make up the best defence in Europe, but at big clubs you have to accept decisions, be competitive and put yourself in contention.”

Juve seem to be very discordant right now with some poor recent results, how does he feel about their Champions League chances?

“We’re going step by step. We’ll try to maintain the lead we’ve built up in the first round and then we’ll see.

“We’ll have 19 more games to play after that, plus many more points to pick up. In the meantime, we’ve achieved two of our objectives for the season: first place in our Champions League group and qualification for the knockouts.

“We’ll see what ball comes out on Monday and then in February we’ll think about it.”