(Reuters) – Juventus are slowly recovering from their injury crisis, coach Massimiliano Allegri said ahead of their trip to Hellas Verona in the Serie A on Thursday, as more players return to fitness.
The 36-time Italian champions struggled for form in recent months but have won their last four league outings, which saw them climb up to fifth in the standings.
Juve, which took an important 2-0 win at home against Inter Milan on Sunday, have 25 points from 13 games and are now only two points behind both third-placed Lazio and Atalanta in fourth.
“Tomorrow in Verona we play against a team that has beaten Juventus three times in the last five games, and in their last few matches they have been defeated in an undeserved way,” Allegri told a news conference on Wednesday.
“They have a physical and attacking team. It won’t be an easy game, they are a team that doesn’t deserve the ranking they have. We will have to play an equal game from a physical point of view.”
Verona are placed bottom of the league after losing eight consecutive games.
Juventus, who last week lost 2-1 at home to Paris St Germain in their last Champions League group game but secured the Europa League spot by finishing third, are making progress towards recovering some of their injured players.
“(Mattia) Perin (is ready to) play tomorrow. Recovered for sure but not necessarily playing are (Leandro) Paredes and (Moise) Kean, (Angel) Di Maria is likely to get half an hour,” Allegri said.
Argentina midfielder Paredes was out since Oct. 22 after sustaining a thigh muscle injury in a training session.
Di Maria picked up a low-grade hamstring injury against Maccabi Haifa on Oct. 11 and has since received playing time as a late substitute against Inter on Sunday.
“(Dusan) Vlahovic, (Weston) McKennie and (Federico) Chiesa will be evaluated today,” the coach added.
Vlahovic missed the last three games across all competitions due to a groin injury but participated in training on Tuesday where he was “running and feeling better”, Allegri said.
“Chiesa returned and did well, it’s clear that until the knee finds its stability there are moments when he has discomfort. It’s part of the journey.”
Chiesa, one of Juve’s standout performers last season, underwent surgery on a torn ligament picked up in January and returned on Sunday against Inter, substituting Arkadiusz Milik in the 73rd minute.
“With whoever is there (tomorrow) we have to play a great game,” Allegri said. “Otherwise what we did against Inter and in the previous three games will be thrown away.”
(Reporting by Anita Kobylinska in Gdansk; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
