Juventus must not ease up – Allegri

Massimiliano Allegri has warned his Juventus players that no medals are given out before May.

Juve have bounced back brilliantly from a dreadful start to their Serie A title defence to lead the way by three points from second-place Napoli, who were held to a pulsating 1-1 draw at Fiorentina on Monday.

Allegri’s men are expected to earn the chance to retain their Coppa Italia crown in the end-of-season final as they take a 3-0 lead into Wednesday’s second leg at Inter, whom they beat 2-0 on home turf in Serie A on Sunday.

Morale was further boosted by a comeback 2-2 draw against Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie last week, although Allegri is keen to guard against complacency.

“We played well on Sunday against Inter, but with 11 games to go, the season is far from over,” he said in a news conference.

“Last night’s result in Florence clearly favoured us, but there are still 33 points to fight for and so we need to concentrate on increasing our own tally to one capable of winning the Scudetto.

“Our focus right now is on going to the San Siro and sealing a place in the Coppa Italia final, then we’ll turn our attentions to Sunday’s league game with Atalanta.”

He added: “I read that Juventus have won the championship but if that were the case on Sunday we would have been busy celebrating.

“Instead we need to stay focused as long as the maths does not say we have won.

“Woe, to think about having success in you pocket. We must play for everything until the end.”