Raphinha scores hat-trick in 100th appearance for Barca
Brazilian winger Raphinha celebrated his 100th appearance for FC Barcelona with a hat-trick goal against Bayern Munich in the Champions League encounter on Wednesday night.
Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri urged caution ahead of his side’s UEFA Champions League semifinal against Monaco, declaring that the Bianconeri have not won anything yet and anything could happen in the second leg.
“We’ve not won anything yet,” Allegri said at the pre-match press conference.
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"The only final we’ve reached is that of the Coppa Italia and tomorrow we want to sew up our passage to Cardiff. After that, we’ll turn attentions to the league again," he added.
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The Bianconeri had a narrow escape against derby rivals Torino on Friday and Allegri agreed that avoiding defeat was crucial.
“On the topic of Serie A, not losing the derby was very important. Sometimes there are games where it becomes clear you’re not going to win, but the important thing is bringing home a positive result,” he said.
The manager refuted rumours that Juventus will be sitting back and settling for a draw, declaring that “Tomorrow we’ll be going after a positive result that gets us in the final. Monaco will be up for playing an open game and will approach the fixture in a carefree fashion”.
“We must be aggressive in order to beat Monaco. We’ll need to be better than them from a technical aspect and also remain patient for our scoring opportunities. Our win from the first leg means that we hold a slight advantage over them, but we need to play tomorrow as if it were a one-off match,” he said.
The Bianconeri have been largely injury-free this season and Allergi confirmed he has a full complement of players to chose from for the tie at the Juventus stadium.
“We’re in great shape at this critical stage of the season. There’s nothing wrong with Higuain. He’s fit to play. Dani Alves has returned strongly from his injury in the winter and is a hugely important player for us, bringing a wealth of international experience.
“I’ll decide whether to player Barzagli or Cuadrado down the right side, while in midfield I’ll pick two from Khedira, Pjanic and Marchisio. My judgement will be based on how I imagine the game will pan out," Allegri added.
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