Tonight, Juventus will enter the hall of last chance when they take on Benfica in the Portuguese capital.
While the Bianconeri made a dismal start to the campaign, the Eagles remain undefeated in all competitions. When the two teams met for the first time in Turin, the Lisbon-based club pulled off a comeback victory to take all three points.
At this point, the Old Lady has no other chance but to win the last two matches and hope for a miraculous escape.
But as elimination draws ever closer, Max Allegri refuses to give up and calls on his players to give it their all on Tuesday.
The coach believes that the team should build on the performance of the first leg, when they started on the right foot, before finally collapsing.
“We have to play like we did for a good part of the first leg, but increasing the number of minutes,” the Juventus coach said in his pre-match interview, according to il Corriere dello Sport.
“We are going to try to win with two goals, but we know they are very strong.
“If Benfica loses tomorrow and wins the last [against Maccabi Haifa]we can only go to the Europa League.
“It would be a great disappointment, but let’s not think about it. Let’s take it one step at a time.”
On another note, Allegri says his players need to control their emotions after enjoying morale-boosting wins over Torino and Empoli.
“The only risk we have, given the last two victories, is that there is too much euphoria, too much illusion and that lowers our ‘immunity’ behind.
“When we are compact, we show strength in the defensive phase. In the last two games we had the right attitude, which hasn’t always been the case.
“The magical moment must not end and I feel optimistic. I think the game will go well for us.
“We have everything to win and then turn our attention back to the national championship.”
