AC Milan vs Juventus - Massimiliano Allegri urges Juventus to retain title focus against AC Milan

Posted Friday, April 08, 2016 by PA

Massimiliano Allegri has rejected talk that his Juventus side have already sewn up the Serie A title before returning to face his former club AC Milan.

The Bianconeri are six points clear of Napoli with seven games remaining but defeat at San Siro could open the door for the southerners to halve that deficit.

Allegri, who guided Milan to the Scudetto in 2011, before Juve won three straight titles under Antonio Conte, has demanded a display that proves his players deserve to be in pole position for the championship.

He told a pre-match press conference: "The Scudetto is all to play for. As things stand we've achieved nothing. I've heard it said that we already have the title in our back pockets, but that is not true.

"To win a game that will bring us closer to winning the Scudetto, we will need to produce a great performance.

"We have to maintain that psychological edge because we know Napoli won't give us an inch.

"We have to keep heading down this winning path. The fact we've won 20 of our last 21 matches will not be enough."

Allegri is still on good terms with the players and staff he left behind when Milan sacked him in January 2014, but he knows there are no favours owed to him.

He added: "It's always a strange match for me as I have kept in touch with the people that are still there.

"Milan will be ready to do battle with us on the pitch tomorrow and they will certainly make life difficult for us."

The Rossoneri have no choice but to give their all against Juve on Saturday evening as they risk missing out on European football for another season.

Last weekend's 2-1 defeat to Atalanta left them six points adrift of city rivals Inter Milan in the nearest Europa League berth and forced head coach Sinisa Mihajlovic to impose a six-day lockdown at the club's Milanello training base.

The Serbian hopes his underachieving squad have learned their lesson and will at least match the team they will play in May's Coppa Italia final for effort.

"We're going to be facing the strongest side in the league at our most testing moment," he told acmilan.com. "These types of games are sink or swim, and I'm hoping my players do the latter and play with pride.

"We want to put in a good performance and enjoy a positive end to the season. We have to start playing like we did when we strung together a number of good results.

"The training retreat has been useful for exchanging ideas and talking things out among ourselves, as well as helping us address our mistakes.

"I hope the team put on a good display and play with the right attitude."

Striker M'Baye Niang is injured while midfielder Andrea Bertolacci is suspended. Juve, meanwhile, are without crocked defenders Giorgio Chiellini and Martin Caceres, with 18-goal forward Paulo Dybala not yet fully recovered from a muscle complaint.