Allegri hopeful of Dybala recovery before Juventus face Barcelona

Massimiliano Allegri is optimistic Juventus striker Paulo Dybala will be fit to face Barcelona in the Champions League on Wednesday after he sustained an ankle injury in Saturday’s win at Pescara.

Dybala scored twice as Juve downed Barca 3-0 in their quarter-final, first leg, but a knock in Serie A action has his participation in the return fixture in doubt.

However, speaking after the 2-0 league victory at the Stadio Adriatico, in which Gonzalo Higuain scored twice, Allegri was hopeful Dybala would recover in time to travel to Camp Nou.

“Dybala took a blow, there is a distortion,” the Juve coach told Mediaset Premium. “But, with four days to recuperate before Barcelona, you have to be optimistic.”

Juve are now eight points clear of second-placed Roma – with Luciano Spalletti’s men held by Atalanta – but Allegri insists the title race is not over as he turns his attention towards Barca.

“We have to get to 91 points – Roma can do 90,” he said. “Now we have to think about Wednesday [against Barca].

FULL-TIME!

@G_Higuain
points
#PescaraJuve 0-2! #FINOALLAFINE pic.twitter.com/DCMMPN7aUt

— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) April 15, 2017

“Compliments are nice, but it takes more balance in football. We must not get excited or depressed.”

And despite the comfortable win over bottom-of-the-table Pescara, Allegri was disappointed that his side did not build on their half-time lead after the interval.

“Juve deserved to win,” he said. “In the second half, we wasted some time – we had plenty of space in front of us and we were not good at exploiting it.

“When we had possession of the ball, we had to do better.”