Juventus will be going for goals in Champions League final, says Massimiliano Allegri
Sunday 7 June 2015 16:43, UK
Massimiliano Allegri has vowed his Juventus team won’t sit back and will go for goals in the Champions League final against Barcelona.
The Italian was in charge of the AC Milan team that beat Barcelona 2-0 in the Champions League quarter-final first leg two years ago – only to suffer a 4-0 hammering in the return leg at the Nou Camp.
And Allegri insists he will adopt more aggressive tactics when he leads Juventus into battle in Berlin on Saturday night, despite the obvious threat of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar in the opposition attack.
Live UEFA Champions League Final
He said: “Messi, Neymar and Suarez is the usual question. How do you stop them? They are three excellent players and we have to be very skilled but we need to consider the fact we are not going to draw. We need to score.
“Will I play as I did with Milan? Absolutely not. Barca two years ago played in a completely different way. Now Xavi is missing and Ivan Rakitic is there and is very different to him. The midfield is very different and this is a different Barcelona.
“How do you stop Barcelona? We need to think about how to score, we need to be technically skilled because Barcelona is a technical team and attack is their best weapon so we need to be very, very good at that.
“We will all be focused on this game. It should be a great game and as with all Champions League finals we need luck and we need to work on it.
“Tomorrow we are going to do our best. It is a one-off match. As with all teams they do have faults and weaknesses.”
Juventus are aiming to become the first Italian side to win the Champions League since Inter Milan claimed glory under Jose Mourinho in 2010.
And speaking at Berlin’s Olympiastadion just over 24 hours before the game, Allegri claimed his players will have support from fans of all Italian clubs.
“It is normal that we have an Italian team in the final,” he added.
“It is important. The last time was five years ago in 2010 when Inter won. That was the last time we got very close to the final and we can see the enthusiasm in Italy."
