Ronaldo starts against Cagliari as Allegri wary of Man Utd distraction
Cristiano Ronaldo will lead Juventus's attack against Cagliari in Serie A on Saturday as coach Massimiliano Allegri said he would not be distracted by next week's blockbuster against Manchester United.
(FILES) In this file photo taken on September 29, 2018 Juventus’ Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo reacts during the Italian Serie A football match Juventus vs Napoli at the Juventus stadium in Turin. Cristiano Ronaldo is “doing well” and will be “ready to play” this weekend, despite being caught in the storm of rape allegations, Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri said on October 5, 2018. Allegri said Ronaldo “is in the squad and ready to play” on Saturday when the winners of the past seven Serie A titles visit Udinese. / AFP PHOTO / Marco BERTORELLO
Juventus will look to keep their unbeaten streak in Serie A against the Sardinians in Turin four days before taking on Jose Mourinho’s United in the Allianz Stadium.
“I’ve asked the guys to just win the game,” Allegri told a press conference ahead of Saturday’s game as Juventus sit top of Serie A, six points ahead of Inter Milan and Napoli.
Ronaldo — who has scored seven goals in ten games — is sure to start up front with Allegri still to choose between Paulo Dybala, Mario Mandzukic and Douglas Costa to play alongside the Portuguese star.
Defender Giorgio Chiellini and winger Federico Bernardeschi have both been ruled out but Sami Khedira and Mandzukic are back in the group.
“It won’t be easy, it never is easy to win and we all saw that against Empoli where we struggled, because we started well and then fell asleep,” said Allegri of last week’s league match which Juventus won thanks to a Ronaldo second-half brace.
“We can’t afford to drop points because Inter and Napoli are behind us.
“If you concede more than 30 goals then you won’t be winning the title so tomorrow we have to keep a clean sheet, so let’s beat Cagliari and then we can think about Manchester United.”
Juventus were held 1-1 by Genoa in their last home game, and Allegri added: “We need to get back to winning ways in our stadium in the league.
“We have the chance to secure (Champions League) qualification and then we go to AC Milan before the international break. We have a nice week ahead of us.”
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