Conte: Juventus doesn't need Pirlo to reach last 16

Posted Tuesday, December 10, 2013 by YAHOO Sport

Antonio Conte insists that Juventus can beat Galatasaray to reach the last 16 without the injured Andrea Pirlo on Tuesday.

The 34-year-old misses out on Juve's final Champions League group stage match because of knee ligament damage sustained in the Turin club's 1-0 win over Udinese at the start of the month.

Conte's men need only to avoid defeat in Istanbul to ensure qualification for the last 16, but the 44-year-old insists Juve will set out to earn a share of the spoils.

"Unfortunately, Pirlo's missing. But we did well without him against Udinese and Bologna. We'll need to do even better on Tuesday," Conte told reporters. "Speculating about the result is not in our mentality. We'll look to win as we always do.

"We won't be affected by the fact that two out of three potential results will see us through. We'll play our usual game."

Conte is wary of the threat posed by the Turkish champions, who boast the likes of Didier Drogba, Wesley Sneijder and former Juve man Felipe Melo among their ranks.

"Galatasaray are very strong and will want to make their home advantage count," Conte said. "We'll stick to our plan and try to dictate the play.

"The likes of Drogba and Sneijder are always dangerous. We'll have to be on our guard throughout."