Massimiliano Allegri previewed the Empoli game: “We will see who is still standing in today’s practice. We must be aware that this is a must-win match. We lost in the first one against them, and they are tough to beat. We will need a serious performance.”
The injury crisis within the team worsened during the week: “Leonardo Bonucci played against Villarreal, and that was not the plan. The other defenders are fine. We are sorry about Weston McKennie, who has unique traits. Kaio Jorge suffered a very ugly injury, and we will wait for him and Federico Chiesa. Paulo Dybala could be back against Fiorentina, while we will see for Daniele Rugani and Alex Sandro. Giorgio Chiellini will miss the entire next week.”
Allegri anticipates tweaking the attack against Empoli: “Moise Kean could get the nod, so one between Dusan Vlahovic and Alvaro Morata might rest. He always has chances when he plays. We are in the running for the fourth spot, but I do not know how many points that will take. I can say that the quota for the Scudetto is 85, and we can not get to it, at least in my opinion.”
“If we knew why we are not scoring a lot, we would solve it quickly. We misplaced too many passes in the final third the other night. We need to improve on that; otherwise, you can jeopardize some tilts or entire two-legged clashes. Other teams are not as wasteful. The most important thing for a striker is to bag goals, and Vlahovic is doing it. We are working on the other aspects alongside the rest of the team.”
“Youngsters Fabio Miretti, Matias Soulé, and Marley Aké are currently training with us. The last one has been doing it regularly at this point.”