Juventus ´not tired´ ahead of crunch AC Milan clash, insists Allegri

Massimiliano Allegri insists Juventus are not tired as they prepare to take on AC Milan in a crunch Serie A clash on Friday, despite a poor performance last time out.

League leaders Juve are eight points clear of nearest challengers Roma going into the match with Vincenzo Montella’s side in Turin.

They drew 1-1 at Udinese last Sunday in a disappointing performance that ended a run of 10 consecutive victories in all competitions.

But Allegri stresses Juve are in excellent shape as they prepare to take on his former club Milan for the fourth time this season.

“As for mental and physical fatigue, first of all we are coming off 10 games where Juventus have won 10 in a row,” Allegri said at his pre-match media conference.

“We played Atalanta, Milan and Napoli in the Coppa Italia; we had the match with Porto, the one with Inter, we had Sassuolo, Lazio, Fiorentina. We had an important period where the team responded well.

“There can be a game where you play less well and it seems like you are tired, but that is not the case as the team is in excellent condition.

“We played a bad game in Udine and that is not OK. These are the most important matches of the season because you have to bring home three points when you are not playing well.

“You can’t play 38 games well and on the same level, there are games where you will have to win while playing poorly. But we accept the draw, we gained a point on Roma but we know it is a long season with 11 games still to go.

“The lads were a bit lucky because in the end we increased our advantage over Roma, though there is still a very long way to go.”

. @OfficialAllegri : ” #Kean is a lad who’s developing all the time and if necessary I’ll hand him game time during #JuveMilan .” pic.twitter.com/6JnWM0pCMk

— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) March 9, 2017

Allegri added: “Now we can expect a tough match against a Milan team who are coming off the back of two positive results. 

“They are quick, technically strong and, at the end of the day, Juventus versus Milan is still a very big game in Italian football, despite the number of points currently separating us in the table. 

“In recent years, this has always been a very evenly matched contest. Victory for us would mean one game less to the Scudetto.”

Giorgio Chiellini is out with injury, with Medhi Benatia in line to partner Leonardo Bonucci at centre-back as a result.

“Bonucci will play, then one of Daniele Rugani, Benatia or Andrea Barzagli, with Benatia a little ahead of the other two,” Allegri said.