Massimiliano Allegri sees Wednesday’s Coppa Italia clash with Napoli as the perfect preparation for Juventus’ Champions League tie against Barcelona as he feels the two are similar.
Juventus have a 3-1 lead from the first leg of the semi-final tie as they prepare to take on Napoli at the Stadio San Paolo for the second time in four days after recording a 1-1 draw in Serie A at the weekend.
“Napoli are a team that play in a similar way to Barcelona, making Wednesday’s game an even more important test,” said Allegri, whose side face Barca in the last eight of the Champions League this month.
“We will need to score in order to be sure of reaching the Coppa Italia final.
“We want to reach our third straight final and we are in a great position to do so.
“We are in a great position on all fronts with just a couple of months of the season left.
“Juventus have achieved a great deal in recent years. We have earned the respect of the rest of Europe.”
Allegri plans to make a number of changes to his starting XI for the match as he looks to rest some key players.
Ready for another #NapoliJuve! All eyes on the Coppa Italia semi-final second leg in Vinovo today… #FINOALLAFINE pic.twitter.com/2XfwhuFCx2
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) April 3, 2017
“There could be seven or eight changes compared to Sunday’s line-up. After all, we are playing every three days at present,” he added.
“Neto will definitely play, but I still need to decide about the others.
“[Paulo] Dybala and [Juan] Cuadrado are both available.
“It is unlikely that [Mario] Mandzukic will play. Any one of Alex Sandro, [Stefano] Sturaro or Cuadrado could come in to replace Mario.”
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