Massimiliano Allegri will not allow his Juventus players to be distracted from their mission of qualifying for the Champions League after a year out of Europe.
A seventh-placed finish last season, thanks in part to a 10-point deduction for capital gain violations, meant the Bianconeri were not even able to compete in the Europa Conference League this term, leaving their midweeks largely free.
That has not translated into a waltz to the Serie A title, however, with leaders Inter Milan still two points out in front despite Juve winning 12 of their last 15 matches and remaining unbeaten in the league since September.
Head coach Allegri remains wary that any complacency creeping in could allow rivals like AC Milan and Fiorentina to overtake them, and he stressed that Sunday’s match at mid-table Lecce represents an excellent opportunity for his side to demonstrate how much they have improved.
He told reporters: “Playing at Lecce is difficult, they played well against Inter and Lazio, defending really well, and they’ve got good results from their last four home matches.
“We have to focus solely on getting a positive result. The main objective is to not concede – that’s happened to us in our last four away games.
“We’re still missing lots of points in our mission to qualify for the Champions League. That’s what we are chasing, that is our goal.
“We can see that Inter are doing great things, they’ve collected 51 points already and are favourites for the Scudetto. We’re improving, but we know that winning at Lecce will be complicated. Celebrating a win is always easy but you’ve got to play the game first.
“Some horses need to wear blinkers and some don’t. Those who need to wear them worry about looking at others but blinkers help you focus on what is in front of us. We haven’t achieved anything so far – we’re only halfway there.”
Federico Chiesa and Adrien Rabiot are ruled out of the game at Stadio Via del mare, with breakthrough wing-back Andrea Cambiaso unlikely to feature.
“The squad is in good shape, we’re training in the right way,” said Allegri. “We won’t have Rabiot or Chiesa tomorrow: the former has a calf problem while Federico has suffered a recurrence of his knee issue and will be assessed in the next few days.
“Cambiaso has come on a lot and I’m happy, he’s great technically and is becoming an important player for us.”
Lecce have three players absent due to the Africa Cup of Nations: Zambian striker Lameck Banda, Tunisia’s Hamza Rafia and Ahmed Touba of Algeria. Albanian defender Kastriot Dermaku faces a late fitness check.
The Apulian club are 13th but starting to look over their shoulders after losing three of their last four games and scoring only once in that period.