On the heels of a morale boosting victory over Roma, Juventus travel to Russia for their third Champions League fixture of the campaign.
The Bianconeri have thus far maintained a perfect record with two wins from two. They dismantled Malmo on the opening day away from home, before beating Chelsea in Turin with a goal from Federico Chiesa.
On the other hand, Zenit St. Petersburg have three points so far after putting on a brave effort during their losing effort at the Stamford Bridge, before routing Malmo with four unanswered goals.
Therefore, the Russians won’t be an easy opponent for the Italians, and Max Allegri is well aware of this fact.
The tactician held his pre-match press conference on Tuesday, where he confirmed the names of three starters.
“De Ligt has fully recovered and will play,” said Allegri as translated by Football Italia. “Otherwise Rugani would have played.
“As for the formation, De Ligt, Bonucci and Szczesny will 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.
“I feel like smiling when they tell me ‘your Juve’. I have good players, at the beginning I didn’t know everyone well.
“Right now the team also likes 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.”
While Paulo Dybala won’t travel to Russia, the coach confirms the player’s availability against Inter next weekend.
“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.
“Alex Sandro is there,” he said. “De Sciglio played an excellent game, but those games should be normal for him.
“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.”
