Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri expects his side to finish the season on a high after reaching the Coppa Italia showpiece and receiving a boost in the Serie A top-four race. The record-time Italian champions travel to Emilia-Romagna to take on Sassuolo in Monday’s enthralling league fixture at Mapei.
After Inter defeated Roma 3-1 on Saturday, Juventus will have an opportunity to extend the gap to eight points in fourth and all but cement another Champions League qualification. Allegri shared his objectives for the season in the build-up to the game.
“Having reached the final of the Coppa Italia, we have a chance to play for a trophy, against the strongest team in Italy at the moment,” he told Juventus’ website.
“As for the league, we need to take it one step at a time. We haven’t locked down fourth place yet, so we need to be aware because there are head-to-heads coming up.
“The aim is to finish the season on a high, which is to finish in the top four and win the Cup.”
Despite a patchy form, Sassuolo are still on course to land a third successive top-half finish. Head coach Alessio Dionisi boasts a core of exceptional young talent that will be looking to upset Juventus on Monday as they did in the reverse fixture in Turin.
Meanwhile, Juventus will hope to avenge a 2-1 defeat at the Allianz Stadium in October and avoid losing both seasonal league matches against Sassuolo for the first time. Having netted precisely three goals in their last four visits to Mapei, Allegri’s men should feel confident about pulling off another result.
However, Juventus will be lacking several first-team stars, including Arthur, Manuel Locatelli and Weston McKennie. Allegri confirmed the injured trio has yet to regain full fitness.
“Arthur won’t make it for Sassuolo, perhaps he’ll be ready for the Venezia game. Weston McKennie has started running, but he’s still a long way off being match fit. The same goes for Manuel Locatelli, who I don’t think will make it back before the end of the season.“