Allegri: Torino are a difficult team to play against

Date: 25th April 2015 at 3:35pm
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Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri has praised city rivals Torino ahead of Sunday’s Derby della Mole at the Stadio Olimpico in Turin.

The Bianconeri boss also spoke about his side’s qualification to the semi-finals of the Champions League for the first time in 12 years by defeating Monaco 1-0 on aggregate, progressing to face holders Real Madrid.

“I was very pleased,” Allegri started. “After two days, I’ve started to believe the team’s achievement.

“The important thing for us was to reach the semi-finals, you couldn’t have asked for more from the boys. They did their all in all competitions, something people thought they couldn’t do.

“We were criticised a lot, but this year we are confirming what we did in recent years, and improving it too.

“As for [Paul] Pogba, we’ll do everything to get him fit for the second leg against Real Madrid, we must try to recover all the injured like [Kwadwo] Asamoah.

“Real Madrid are the champions of Europe, they have a coach [Carlo Ancelotti] who has won a lot. We are aiming to reach the final but we should do so knowing that we’re playing against the holders.

“We are aware of Madrid’s quality but we know that we are a good side too, and with a little luck, the final is not impossible.”

Allegri then went on to say that there is no hurry to win the Serie A title, as they hold a 15 point lead at the top of the table with seven games remaining, in addition to commenting on the derby in November which Juve won 2-1 in injury time.

“We have to get six points, and the derby against Torino is coming up on Sunday,” he said. “They are having a great season, and we must be very focused.

“Winning Serie A tomorrow? I haven’t thought about about it, we have to think game by game. We’re not in a hurry.

“In the first game, we managed to concede a goal [from Bruno Peres] where he ran with about 70 feet with the fall, we could’ve done a lot better.

“A derby is a game very different from any other game, the standings should not be put into consideration. In addition to that, Torino are playing really good football at the moment.

“I do not think they are better than us in any aspect, but they’re a very organised team, they have grown a lot. They’re a very difficult team to play against because they slow down the tempo.”

Finally, the former AC Milan coach went on to state that he’ll analyse the situation of star striker Carlo Tevez and whether he’ll play in the derby or not.

“Today, I’ll assess [Carlos] Tevez’s situation and whether he’ll play or not,” he said.

 

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