Conte confirms Tevez will start

Juventus coach Antonio Conte has confirmed Carlos Tevez will start the second leg of their UEFA Europa League last-16 tie with Fiorentina.

The Argentine has missed the last two games since scoring the winner against Thursday’s opponents in Serie A earlier this month.

One of those two games was the first leg in Turin, where Mario Gomez’s late strike cancelled out Arturo Vidal’s early opener and gave Vincenzo Montella’s side the advantage ahead of the return encounter in Florence on Thursday.

Perhaps mindful of Juve’s need to score at least once to progress, Conte confirmed that Tevez will return to his starting XI before insisting that the Serie A leaders are treating the competition and their opponents with the utmost respect.

“We’ll look to honour the Europa League with pride, passion and enthusiasm,” he said.

“We’ll give it everything we’ve got. Every game in Italy is full of tension and pressure.

“We’re used to this, Juve must always win and the same applies (on Thursday).

“We’ve got plenty of respect for them (Fiorentina). There isn’t one specific player to fear, the team as a whole is full of top individuals.”

Thursday will be the third time the two sides have met in less than three weeks and Juve goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon is expecting another stern examination.

“(It) will be a different game and another test for us,” he said.

“You can’t hide the fact that Fiorentina have excellent players. They have the ability to give you a hard time and can also count on a capable coach.”