Conte: Palermo clash ´like a World Cup final´

Juventus coach Antonio Conte has underlined the importance of his team’s Serie A clash with Palermo on Sunday, likening the game to a final.

The Turin club started this season well and are still unbeaten, but have lost their place at the top of the table in the last fortnight.

With the Sicilian outfit also in good form, the Lecce-born trainer has stressed that three points are vital, especially considering his team have not played for three weeks.

“The match against Palermo is like a final,” Conte said.

“Tomorrow it’ll be 22 days since the last time we stepped on to the pitch.”

“It is inevitable there will be some question marks over how we’ll perform. We started working together again on Thursday and tried to throw the internationals back into the Serie A atmosphere, because after 10-12 days away it’s easy to pick up a different rhythm.”

Juventus are three points ahead of Palermo going into the game, and two behind current league leaders Udinese.

After this weekend’s match they face high-pressure games against Lazio and Napoli.

“We have to take it one match at a time, trying to get as many points as possible. Right now there is the challenge with Palermo and for us it has to be worth as much as a World Cup final,” Conte said.

“There are three very important points at stake and let’s not forget Palermo have conquered Turin for three years running. We must prove things have changed.”

“All the players have now recovered from injury, so all my decisions will be exclusively technical and tactical.”