Juventus coach Max Allegri concedes that he doesn’t know when Paul Pogba will be back but Federico Chiesa will return when the season restarts. The Bianconeri were in action yesterday against Arsenal and while they saw little of the ball, they managed to win the match 2-0 thanks to a brace of own goals. Speaking after the game, Allegri offered his assessment of the match as well as updates on the fitness of his squad:
“It was a difficult game, they are a technically-gifted team and we had a lot of kids, but we played well defensively. It was a struggle to create chances and could’ve done better, but it is always a pleasure to win, especially in this stadium.
Chiesa had a muscular issue, but that’s normal when stepping up the intensity after such a long injury lay-off and we preferred not to risk him. He’ll be ready for December 27. Paul still hasn’t been consistent in training, so I cannot say when he’ll be back. This is the truth and it’s important to say that, otherwise every day we’ll get these questions on how Pogba’s recovery is going. He hasn’t yet started running in training.
Bonucci won’t be out for long, Juan Cuadrado will only be available after the Cremonese game and Mattia De Sciglio should be back from December 27 onwards. That is also when Danilo and Alex Sandro arrive, while Rabiot and the Argentineans will have a few more days to rest, as they are in the World Cup Final tomorrow.
The sporting aspect has never changed, so we just have to focus on training and winning games, the rest is up to the club, as always. Juventus are one of the most important clubs in the world, there are 120 years of history here and that will continue.
Of course not. It’s sad that the President is no longer here, because I have great affection for him, but all it does is put more responsibility on our shoulders and we need even more effort to win the games.”
