Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri will not underestimate Serie A newcomers SPAL

Posted Wednesday, October 25, 2017 by PA

Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri has warned against complacency when the Serie A champions host top-flight new boys SPAL.

The Bianconeri overcame the early dismissal of forward Mario Mandzukic to win 6-2 at Udinese on Sunday.

It was a first Serie A win of October and recovered some lost ground on the leaders after Napoli's goalless draw with Inter.

Despite not expecting to be troubled by Leonardo Semplici's men, who have lost six out of their past seven matches, Allegri is determined to keep everyone fully focused on producing the required performance in the first home Serie A match since Lazio ended their two-year unbeaten run.

"We must have respect for SPAL, who are an organised team that defends very well and suffered narrow defeats, causing their opponents big problems," Allegri said at a press conference, quoted on the club's official Twitter feed.

"We have to continue to not take anything for granted, so we must make 90-plus minutes of attack and defence.

"The team has grown a lot, we are on the right track and are working well."

Allegri confirmed he would rest Gianluigi Buffon, who was in London on Monday to collect the FIFA Best Goalkeeper Award, and also defender Giorgio Chiellini.

The Juve boss, however, is ready to deploy Paulo Dybala, Gonzalo Higuain and Douglas Costa in an attack-minded line-up, while Claudio Marchisio and Mattia De Sciglio, who has been sidelined by injury, could also be involved.

Higuain has failed to find the net in his last three appearances for the Bianconeri, with the goals at Udinese coming courtesy of a hat-trick by German midfielder Sami Khedira while defender Daniele Rugani and Miralem Pjanic were also on target.

Allegri, though, has full confidence in the Argentinean.

"Higuain has improved his condition and is playing well, on Sunday, he put the team on his shoulders when we were down to 10 men," the Juve boss said.

"He is only missing a goal, and maybe he will find it tomorrow."

Allegri added: "There are moments in a season where forwards do not score for a few games. We must all just be calm and they will come."