Andrea Pirlo said Juventus ‘are fighting on all fronts’ and will ‘give their all’ until the end, starting with another ‘decisive’ game against Lazio.
The Bianconeri arrive from a 3-0 win over Spezia last time and prepare for their second of three consecutive home games this weekend.
“Lazio are a great team that have been playing together for several years,” Pirlo said at a press conference.
“They have a well-defined game, and the results speak for them. We know we’ll face a team that will fight to get to the top.
“We are preparing for the match in the best possible way, knowing their characteristics and we know it won’t be easy.
“All the matches are decisive for Juventus. The present is tomorrow’s match, we will concentrate with all our strength to win and we’ll only think about Porto after that.”
Pirlo confirmed some of the players could recover in time for the match, but he’s forced to cope without Rodrigo Bentancur.
“This morning, some of the unavailable players have partly trained with the team, we still have one day to recover someone,” he revealed.
“It’s a shame that Bentacur is absent, we will have to invent something to put the best line-up on the pitch.”
Pirlo said the few players available gives him no chance to rest Cristiano Ronaldo up front.
“When you play a lot of games, a day or two of rest is good,” Pirlo said. “It also applies to Cristiano.
“Now that we are short up front, he has gritted his teeth and will do it for as long as we need it.
“He has shown and continues to demonstrate his great professionalism.”
Juventus are in the Coppa Italia Final, the last 16 of the Champions League and sit third in Serie A, 10 points behind League leaders Inter, but with one game in hand.
With Lazio six points behind at seventh, Pirlo sees the extra importance of a good result against Inzaghi’s men.
“The matches are all important, tomorrow’s game is also important for the table,” Pirlo said. “The enthusiasm is there, because we are going through a period of tough and important games. And it will always be there.
“In the standings, the situation is the same as last week. We must be ready to not make mistakes in case the ones above do.
“We are fighting on all fronts and as long as there’s hope, we will have to give our all to try to win the championship.
“Then, if the others never make mistakes and are better at it, we will compliment them at the end.”
The coach said Juventus ‘started a project’ last summer.
“We started a project, the judgements often change from game to game,” he added. “We are calm, we know what we must do, and we move on.
“We have to play a smart game tomorrow, knowing that we are in a delicate period and we are not at 100 per cent.
“It will be important to manage every situation and every play well, because you won’t be able to play at 100 for 90 minutes."
Source: m.allfootballapp.com