Juventus must avoid Christmas banana skin – Allegri

Juventus head coach Massimiliano Allegri has warned his team not to take struggling Carpi lightly when they meet in Serie A on Sunday.

The champions have won six consecutive league games ahead of their last match prior to the mid-season break at 19th-placed Carpi.

The home side have won only two of 16 league games this season, but Allegri fears the fixture represents a potential Christmas banana skin for his players and warned them to be on guard.

“The last game before Christmas can represent a potential banana skin, but we have got a very responsible team,” said the former AC Milan boss.

“We are coming off a run of positive results, but let’s not forget we dropped a lot of points against sides like Udinese, Chievo, Sassuolo and Frosinone. We have to win and our only objective must be a victory. 

“We absolutely cannot afford to misjudge our approach for Carpi. We need to be at the races.

“We need to consolidate our position in the table, enabling us to begin 2016 alongside those at the top. Then we will go on vacation and start again fighting with the top spots, otherwise everything we have done over the last two months will have been in vain.

“The Carpi game brings our 2015 to a close. It has been a richly successful year, now we need to round it off in style. We want to end on a high but every Serie A match is difficult.”

Following their strong run of results, Juventus are fourth in the table and six points adrift of leaders Inter.