Allegri: ‘De Ligt fully recovered, Juve have more self-esteem’

Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri confirmed Matthijs de Ligt has ‘fully recovered’ and will start against Zenit St Petersburg on Wednesday. ‘Arthur will get some more minutes’.

The Bianconeri travel to Russia for the third round of fixtures in the group stage of the Champions League.

Juventus have won their first two games without conceding any goals and De Ligt, who missed the big game against Roma in Serie A, will be back in defence against Zenit.

“De Ligt has fully recovered and will play,” Allegri said at a press conference. “Otherwise Rugani would have played. But he has recovered and will play.”

Allegri confirmed Wojchiech Szczesny, Leonardo Bonucci and De Ligt are the only three confirmed to start the match.

Arthur Melo returned against Roma but might need more time before playing from the first minute.

“As for the formation, De Ligt, Bonucci and Szczesny play,” he said. “Then I will see how the others are.

“Arthur will get some more minutes; I don’t know if he will start or enter during the game. [Alvaro] Morata is fine, he has fully recovered and could start.”

Juventus are unbeaten in the last seven games, and have won four on the bounce in Serie A.

Bonucci: ‘Juve need pre-CR7 spirit; I could have gone to Zenit’

Allegri was asked if he was in charge of ‘his Juventus’ now and said he is still looking to ‘improve’ the team.

“I feel like smiling when they tell me ‘your Juve’,” he said. “I have good players, at the beginning I didn’t know everyone well.

“Right now the team also like to defend and this is a good thing. We need to improve, both in attack and defence. Then the results increase the self-esteem and you work with more serenity.”

Morata has returned to action, but Paulo Dybala continues to struggle, but Allegri expects to have La Joya back against Inter.

“He’s working well, he hasn’t worked with the team yet,” Allegri added. “He should almost certainly be available against Inter.

“Sunday’s game? Needless to talk about it now, tomorrow we have a match-ball that we must exploit.”

Mattia De Sciglio was praised for the performance against Roma, while Allegri said Alex Sandro will be available against Zenit.

“Alex Sandro is there,” he said. “De Sciglio played an excellent game, but those games should be normal for him.”

Before the break in November, Allegri said he hopes to stay in touch with the top teams in Italy and advance to the knockout stages in the Champions League.

“We have the opportunity to remain attached to the top and to advance from the group stage in the Champions League,” he said. “Then we’ll see for the rest. We are calm.”

Allegri was asked about referee Daniele Orsato’s controversial decision in the 1-0 win last weekend, and stressed ‘each of us would have something to complain about every Sunday’.

“I have already commented on Sunday,” he said. “The thing that has arisen is part Italy. I believe that each of us would have something to complain about every Sunday.

“I believe there’s a generational change among the Italian referees. They are good, they are helped by VAR. We need to give them time.”

Allegri then spoke about the opponents on Wednesday, expecting a tough task in Russia.

“Zenit are a team with important technical values, with very good players in the middle of the field,” he said. “In front, they have two players with different characteristics.

“To come out with a positive result, you need to have a good match.”