Massimiliano Allegri knows all about ‘finals’ in the UEFA Champions League – and he’s likened tonight’s round of 16 decider at Wembley to just that.
Since taking over in 2014, Allegri has led the Juventus to two runners-up spots in the competition in three years.
And after our incredible comeback in Turin which left our tie with Juve in the balance, Allegri has underlined just how important tonight’s second leg is to his side.
“I don’t know how Spurs are going to play. We’ll have to be a lot better technically than in the first game, particularly the second half. For us it’s like a final,” who incidentally was coach of AC Milan when we knocked them out of the Champions League at this stage in 2011.
“We have to put in a performance and get a result, otherwise we’ll be going out. We have to be very positive. That’s the approach we need to take. They like to keep possession, keep the ball moving and we need to disrupt that.”
With the tie finely poised at 2-2 after the first leg, away goals will come into play if the scores are level at the end of the 90 minutes.
He added: “This is such a huge game and you want to play in a game like that, even if you’re not in tip-top condition,” said Allegri, whose squad has suffered with injuries of late.
He went on to say: “These games at the highest level are all about taking your chances. We had a tough game against Lazio on Saturday. Dybala took the chance at the end.I don’t see any reason why (Gonzalo) Higuaín and (Paulo) Dybala can’t both play. Higuaín has been training with the team for the last few days. Dybala has recovered well from Lazio and he’s a young man, 24.There’ll be more space (tonight), more room and more chances. The important thing is to be very careful in defence.”
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