Conte could rotate for Europa League

Antonio Conte has refused to rule out rotating his Juventus squad for Thursday’s UEFA Europa League last-16 clash with Fiorentina.

The sides meet for the second time in the space of four days in this week’s first-leg game, following Juve’s 1-0 Serie A win last Sunday.

Despite Conte’s desire to keep his players fresh for their domestic title run-in, he will pick a side he believes to be capable of winning the tie – even if he rests some of his stars.

“With the heavy fixture schedule we’ve got coming up, we’ll make our assessments and choose a team that’s capable of winning the game,” he said.

“We’ll take on Fiorentina in the best possible way, we want to go through and continue our Europa League journey.

“We’ve got two great targets to go for – our third consecutive Scudetto and the Europa League.

“(The) Europa League is an important competition, enabling all of us to gain greater experience on an international stage.

“It won’t be easy to go all the way in this year’s Europa League, but that’s exactly what we intend to do.

“Ideas, method and discipline – these are the three ingredients required to get back to the top in Europe.”

The clash is the only tie between two sides from the same nation in the round, and Conte believes it will be an entertaining encounter.

“It’s an evenly poised clash,” he added. “Fiorentina can focus all of their efforts exclusively on the Europa League.

“I think Juve-Fiorentina could be a decent advert not just for Italian football but also Europe in general. I hope it’s a good game.”