Allegri: Never easy for Juventus against Torino

If the Juventus versus Torino Derby della Mole will be half as explosive as Massimiliano Allegri's pre-match press conference, then we should be set for sparks on Saturday.

The Bianconeri boss was in quite the mood, and when pushed by a journalist about 'muscle injuries', that was enough to light his fuse, despite Alex Sandro being out with one.

“Calm, calm, calm, we haven’t had a string of injuries. Alex Sandro is one, but Pogba? Which problem did he have?

“No, it was the knee. You wrote muscle problems. Did Vlahovic have a muscle injury? No!

“As for Chiesa, I explained it before, maybe you didn’t understand. Maybe I do not speak good Italian or you don’t understand. I don’t want to get angry. I’ve said Chiesa’s scan was okay, but he felt pain this morning. He is worried, so he won’t play. Vlahovic has a back injury. The only muscle injury we have is Alex Sandro. That’s all.”

The journo tried to add that Moise Kean was ailing too, but Allegri snapped right back.

“That was an old thing, he had had a knock and he was in pain. I am always calm guys, come on. When somebody is injured, someone else plays."

Allegri went on to provide an update on the rest of the squad.

“Except Chiesa and Vlahovic, everyone else is available. We have Kean, Yildiz and Milik. Rabiot can score goals too. Fagioli and Miretti will start soon, especially Fabio. Kean feels well, he will play tomorrow.

“We’ll face an angry Torino, it’s never easy against them, Juric’s teams are strong physically, so we must be ready to battle.

“I won’t change the system, perhaps it can happen during the game, there could be different solutions, considering the characteristics of those at my disposal.”

The coach added some details to Vlahovic and Chiesa's issues.

“We are sorry they are not available. These things happen in a season, we’ll see how Vlahovic will return. We need him as we need everyone. Chiesa’s MRI scan was negative, there are no lesions. He was a little bit worried, so it’s fair to leave him out. I need fit players for the game.

“Surely he has nothing serious. It could be inflammation, but I’ve seen him worried. It happened in the past that he had nothing and then he remained out for a month and a half because of an injury. The doctors know it and they want fit players.”

Juve had come in for some criticism after the tame draw away at Atalanta last weekend.

“We were not satisfied with a point, we were not convinced enough, but Atalanta are a strong team and they proved it in Europe, winning in Lisbon [against previously undefeated Sporting].

“We defended well, but we could have been more aggressive. Tomorrow, it will be different. Fans will have to help us. We want to play the Champions League next season and we must be ready tomorrow, physically and mentally.”