Udinese vs Juventus preview - It's all good experience - Conte

Posted Sunday, April 13, 2014 by PA

Juventus coach Antonio Conte expects the challenge of competing for honours on two fronts to invigorate rather than hinder his ambitious players.

Victory at Udinese on Monday night would see Juve pull eight points clear of Roma - 3-1 winners against Atalanta on Saturday - in the Serie A table ahead of the five-game run-in, while Portuguese league leaders Benfica await in the semi-finals of the Europa League later this month.

Conte, who believes the Giallorossi will push his Scudetto-chasing side right until the very end, says Juve are in a good position to clinch their third straight title but is asking his squad to channel their energy in the right way.

He told juventus.com: "The title race is still open. I've always said that.

"I expected the head-to-head with Roma to go down to the wire. They're a strong adversary and will fight until the end.

"Juggling two competitions? This is where we wanted to be.

"It's all good experience for me, the players and the club because it helps us better understand how to face these challenges now and in the future.

"It's been a hard season, physically and mentally, but we're still in the running on two fronts and that's stimulating for us.

"It must spur us on to approach the final stage of the season in the right way."

Turning his attention to Monday's opposition, Conte is fully aware that Udinese will be out to avenge the 4-1 defeat they suffered at the Stadio Friuli in this fixture last season.

"Opposition teams pull out all the stops when they're up against Juve, but we've come to expect that," he added.

Chilean midfielder Arturo Vidal is expected to travel east despite ongoing concerns over a knee injury, but defender Andrea Barzagli is unavailable while the season is already over for midfielder Simone Pepe.

Udinese, meanwhile, are without on-loan Fiorentina midfielder Andrea Lazzari through injury and Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu serves a one-match suspension.

Zebrette boss Francesco Guidolin admits beating Conte's "steamroller" would represent a dream come true as he strives to fire his club towards the top half of the table before a disappointing campaign dribbles to an end.

"I don't need too many words to describe Juve," he told the Gazzetta dello Sport. "They're just a steamroller.

"They're the best, strongest and most consistent side in Serie A.

"Over the last three years they have steadily improved in terms of performance.

"Their management has developed a clever system of gradually introducing major players and they have now created a team that can compete with the biggest teams in Europe."