Allegri: ‘Atalanta among Scudetto challengers’
Max Allegri confirms Paulo Dybala will be in action for tomorrow’s friendly against Atalanta, who the Juventus coach sees as one of the Scudetto contenders.
The pre-season friendly takes place on Saturday evening, just a week before the Serie A campaign kicks off.
“Dybala will make his return tomorrow, I want to see where the fitness levels are across the team. It’s a big test for us and needs to be a good exercise, then from Tuesday morning we need to start focusing on the season itself and be ready, because there are three points on the line against Udinese,” Allegri told JTV.
It’s news that Dybala is available, as he has struggled again with injuries during pre-season.
“He looked good in training, just like the others. We’re working hard, but obviously fitness levels vary throughout the squad depending on when the players got back. I’m sure we’ll be ready against Udinese.”
Juventus were thrashed 3-0 in the Gamper Trophy by Barcelona and the use of Aaron Ramsey and Danilo in the midfield role in front of the defence suggested they are sorely lacking in those areas.
“Ramsey played against Monza too and I think it was another good performance,” argued Allegri.
“He can definitely improve. As for Danilo, he’s so intelligent that he can play there, or as a right-back, so I was pleased. Obviously, the result was disappointing, but it was only our second pre-season friendly after just a week of working together.”
Juventus beat Atalanta in May during the Coppa Italia Final and they meet again tomorrow, but can La Dea be genuine Scudetto contenders this time around?
“Atalanta are an established team and Gian Piero Gasperini is showing himself to be a great coach. They are a physical side, they play good football and have done well in Europe too, so they’ll be one of the eight sides challenging for the title.
“There are 38 games and you need consistency to win. It’s important to start with the desire to win and the aim of being one of the challengers.”
Another doubt about the set-up at Juventus this season is Federico Chiesa, who can do damage in so many different roles.
“Chiesa’s biggest strength is his end product. He has a lot of shots, gets into lots of one-to-one situations, so he has a much better chance of performing well on the right, though he had some good games on the left too.”