(Reuters) – Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri has warned that his team cannot take victory for granted in their upcoming Serie A clash against Salernitana, despite their 6-1 Coppa Italia win earlier in the week.
In the last 16 tie on Thursday, Juventus secured an easy home victory after initially going behind in the opening minute. They now face bottom side Salernitana again on Sunday.
“Playing in Salerno is never easy, we will find a difficult environment because they will want to avenge Thursday’s result,” Allegri said.
“Above all, by returning to league action, they will try to give continuity to their victory in Verona (on Dec. 30) which boosted their efforts to stay up in Serie A.”
Inter Milan’s 2-1 win over Hellas Verona on Saturday puts Juventus five points behind the leaders going into the last game of the first half of the season, but Allegri remains wary of the competition.
“It will be a very complicated match and the boys know it,” he said. “We must try to close the first round in the best possible way and then we’ll start thinking about the second round.
“It’s fundamental to maintain the gap on fifth in the standings,” Allegri added, referring to Juve’s 11-point advantage over fifth-placed Bologna. “I repeat it this time too – our first objective must be to qualify for the next edition of the Champions League and to do so we must continue to work well.”
Allegri also gave some indication of who will feature against Salernitana.
“(Midfielder) Hans Nicolussi Caviglia will play tomorrow. (Left-back) Andrea Cambiaso, however, is feverish and unlikely to be there,” the manager said.
“As for (striker) Moise Kean, he has not yet returned to training on the pitch, so it will still take some time before we have him back available.
“Gleison Bremer will return and I think Federico Gatti and Danilo will be starters. Timothy Weah could start, but I haven’t decided yet. Whoever is better will definitely play, I will choose the best formation possible.”
Juventus currently hold a seven-point advantage over AC Milan in third place, while Salernitana are struggling with only 12 points from 18 games and are two points behind Cagliari, who are in 17th place in the safety zone.
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes; Editing by Ken Ferris)
