Allegri provides Juventus injury update after derby draw

The derby della Mole tends to always be a full-blooded battle for ninety-plus minutes, and this latest edition did not disappoint. Torino put in a performance that belied their Serie A table position to hold Juventus to a 1-1 draw in an entertaining clash at the Juventus Stadium on Friday evening.

There were more injury woes for Massimiliano Allegri though, with Daniele Rugani removed from the squad after sustaining a warmup injury, then his replacement Luca Pellegrini left the game at the midway point and to top it all off Paulo Dybala also exited with what looked like an injury too.

Speaking after the game, the coach updated the status of the trio along with Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci.

“Dybala shouldn’t have anything in particular. Rugani had a problem at his flexor, same as Dybala, while Pellegri picked up a knock. We have the players to play against Villareal, Danilo will return for the match in Spain.

“Bonucci will be assessed, like all the other players. The season is still long. I don’t want to take risks and use players just for 30 minutes, fearing to lose them for a month.

“I’m not worried at all also because during the season there are injuries and those we have and who are fit and enlisted, will play on Tuesday against Villarreal and then we will prepare for Empoli.”

Allegri has made defending his side second nature in recent weeks, and was forced to do the same again today.

“It matters, because with the point we followed up on the positive results we’ve had in the last two to three months. it wasn’t easy, we weren’t brilliant compared to Torino, but we played a good game.

“Paradoxically, we conceded a goal in our best moment. In the first half we had two or three situations where we could have scored, but not in the second half.

“Then we weren’t very clean in the second half, but I think it’s a normal path, it’s natural when you’re playing in the league, especially when you’re aiming to be in the top four, so a draw isn’t to be thrown away.

“I’d say that the guys played a good game in terms of commitment and intensity, they tried to win until the end, so it’s a point that we take home and allows us to extend the positive streak.”

He discussed the injuries to Paulo Dybala, Daniele Rugani and Luca Pellegrini, and if he’s worried.

The Italian coach analysed the performance of star striker Dusan Vlahovic, who failed to have a strong impact in the match.

“He struggled because he’s a very good player, but he has to learn a lot. As many players have to learn. Tonight he had to drag Bremer around the pitch and not give him any points of reference, because he is very strong on direct balls and less strong when you drag him around the pitch.

“Let’s not forget that he comes from a team that is having a very good season but he played one game a week. He’s played six, so I think it’s normal for him to grow. It amuses me because someone comes in and has to play every game.

“You have to grow, you have to get used to it, all the things you need in a great team, otherwise physically you can’t manage to play a game every three days.”

He touched on the performance of his midfielders.

“The three strikers were well marked but you have to move more, Rabiot’s situation you have to do a lot more. I asked Vlahovic to go to Rodriguez’s side, these are situations of the game that you have to learn.

“We were good in the previous games and less good today also because we were less brilliant having less technical cleanliness.”

Allegri spoke about the performance of his attacking trident.

“Dybala shouldn’t have anything in particular. We need to play technically cleaner, when we were we had dangerous chances. In the second half we had to be more decisive in the opponent’s area, we were more fumbling but the important thing is to get to the final goal.”

Finally, Allegri discussed the race for the final top four spot.

“There’s Lazio who are back and then it depends on what Fiorentina do in their next games. Roma are further back but there are still 12 games to go, let’s see now at Villarreal and then what we do in Empoli.”