Allegri: The path to the end of the season is still long

Juventus take on AC Milan tomorrow with a big opportunity to close the gap on the Rossoneri who sit seven points ahead of them in the table, Speaking ahead of the game during his scheduled pre-match press conference, coach Massimiliano Allegri insisted that he was not thinking of the Scudetto.

“We are experiencing a good period, but the path is still long, we are still behind in the league table. It will be a great match, it’s a pity we have to play it with only 5,000 spectators, but it’s still Juventus-Milan.

“Let’s not go too far with things, in the meantime let’s try to get a good result tomorrow against Milan, who have been doing very well in the last year and a half. Congratulations to Pioli, they are fighting for the Scudetto.

“We have to stick with them and arrive at the end of February in the best possible condition. If we talked about the Scudetto we’d be talking about things that don’t make sense right now.

“It’s not a question of winning against one of the top four, it’s a question of winning because it’s an important game. Hopefully tomorrow will be the first time [this season].”

Regarding the side he’ll field tomorrow, Allegri was keeping his cards close to his chest.

“We still have to train and I have to evaluate everything. Everyone is fine apart from Leonardo Bonucci and Aaron Ramsey, who has not been well but is on his way out. After training I’ll know what formation to use.”

The furor around Paulo Dybala’s contract continues, but the coach is still very complimentary about the Argentine.

“Paulo is better physically, he is growing, he is very calm. This helps him because he’s freer to play, he has less responsibility, I’m very happy with what he’s doing. I think he will give us a lot between now and the end of the season.”

Moise Kean has been quite underwhelming so far, what were his thoughts on the young striker?

“I am happy with what Moise is doing, he has scored important goals. He’s alternated between good performances and not so good ones, let’s not forget he’s a youngster that’s only 21 years old.”

What was the future for Arthur, who has been linked with leaving the club?

“This is the squad and it will stay like this. Let’s not forget that Arthur had been inactive for six months, he needed to find consistency. The player Arthur is not in question, he is a starter for Brazil even if he is not called up.”

Allegri has previously managed at Milan as well, and commended the Rossoneri for rebuilding their squad and how Juve are in a period of transition as well.

“They’ve worked well, they’ve done things in an orderly fashion. They chose good players and that’s how you win games. They have taken responsibility away from what they had on them, the weight of playing for Milan, and now they are up there.

“Juve came from nine unrepeatable years for a football club in Italy. They still won two trophies and went to the Champions League. This year, without Cristiano Ronaldo, there was more space for others, and we played games, like in Rome, with 6 players between 20 and 23 years old.

“60% of a team, that’s not little. It’s not being better, it’s experience. You only get better by playing, by playing matches, and I’d say they’ve improved a lot in that respect. We played with maturity in the game against Udinese, we waited and took a step forward.”