Juventus head coach Massimiliano Allegri insists his side will face a “good challenge” when they take on struggling Empoli.
Juve are top of Serie A after losing just once in the competition all season and recording five straight wins following a 1-1 draw at Genoa in mid-December.
In contrast, Empoli are 19th in the table after four wins and four draws from 21 games, although their most recent match saw Szymon Zurkowski’s hat-trick secure a 3-0 win over Monza in Davide Nicola’s first game in charge.
“It’s an important match tomorrow,” Allegri told a pre-match press conference.
“We are well physically and mentally, but a good challenge awaits us too. Empoli deserves respect, they have quality players and coach Nicola’s arrival has given them solidity, so it won’t be an easy match.”
Juve can extend their lead over Inter Milan at the top of the table to four points on Saturday, with Simone Inzaghi’s side not in action until a trip to Fiorentina on Sunday.
The top two sides then meet at the San Siro on February 4 in a game which could go a long way to deciding the destiny of the Scudetto, although Allegri is not ruling out the challenge of AC Milan.
“After Inter-Juventus there are still many games to play, and let’s not forget Milan who scored more points than last year, have overcome a difficult period and can get back into the title race,” he added.
“The important thing is to stay balanced, keep the bar high and try to provide continuity.
“The Scudetto-winning points tally? It’s difficult to say right now, we’re up against a strong team in Inter who are favourites and have scored a lot of points. Being close to them is a great thing given that we’re on a different path.”
Federico Chiesa remains sidelined through injury and Allegri said he will decide whether to play or rest captain Danilo.
New signing Tiago Djalo has been assessed by the club’s medical staff after completing his move from Lille, the 23-year-old having not played since suffering an ACL injury last March.
“I feel good. My knee is fine,” Djalo said on Thursday. “Now it’s a question of opportunity. I’m ready. I’ll give everything for the team.
“I trained with the squad yesterday and this morning. My knee is recovering well. We’ll decide with the coach what to do. I’m very calm about it.
“I’ve come here to take an opportunity and make myself available to the coach. I know I have the attributes needed to help out. It’s just a matter of getting opportunities.”
Simeone takes positives but Oblak slams 'pitiful' Atletico performance
Jan Oblak hit out at a "pitiful" performance from Atletico Madrid after their 4-0 loss to Benfica in the Champions League.
Benfica recorded their joint-biggest victory in a Champions League home match (alongside 5-1 vs Club Brugge in March 2023), as Atletico suffered their heaviest ever defeat to Portuguese opposition in the competition.
Atletico had only four shots, failing to get any of them on target, and mustered just 0.24 expected goals (xG).
Benfica, on the other hand, had 19 shots and accumulated 4.46 xG.
While Diego Simeone believed there were positives to take, Oblak, who made six saves to keep the scoreline from getting even more humiliating, was far more scathing of Atletico's display in Lisbon.
"It's pitiful to lose like this, it's not a good image to give and there's not much more to say. We weren't good today, to say the least," Oblak told Movistar Plus.
"Sometimes games like this happen, but we can't afford it because we gave a woeful impression today. I don't have a single positive thing I can say today.
"We didn't show up and there's not much more to say. Nobody is saved from what happened today, we have to accept it and move forward."
Simone accepted Atletico "played badly", but did feel it was not all doom and gloom.
"I always like to think positively and I think it's a good opportunity to keep improving," Simeone told Movistar Plus.
"We had been doing a very good job, today we didn't play the game we expected, but we have to keep going.
"We played badly. We have to accept that. We didn't play well, the substitutions didn't give us the spark that they gave us at other times. We played badly, they were better and we have to accept that.
"There was no lack of tension, attitude or desire to run, we just played badly and when you play badly you are exposed to losses like this.
"We had been doing a very good job and today the game that you don't want to see appeared.
"Some nights are not good and we have to accept them and try to learn from what we had to go through today and recover energy for Sunday's LaLiga game [at Real Sociedad]."
Columbus Crew 2-3 Inter Miami: Messi, Suarez seal Supporters' Shield success
Lionel Messi scored twice and Luis Suarez got the winner as Inter Miami beat 10-man Columbus Crew 3-2 to claim the Supporters' Shield in MLS.
After three straight draws, Miami needed a victory to guarantee they got their hands on the shield, which is awarded to MLS' best team in the regular season, and they got over the line in frantic fashion on Wednesday.
Miami's goals came between the 45th and 48th minute, with Messi, who had not recorded a direct goal contribution in any of his last three away appearances, netting the opening two.
Having already teed up a Diego Gomez goal that was disallowed, Messi engineered space in the box to drill home and break the deadlock, before doubling his tally five minutes later with a sensational free-kick.
Diego Rossi dragged the Crew back into it straight after the restart, but parity lasted just two minutes as Suarez capitalised on an error from Columbus goalkeeper Patrick Schulte.
Cucho Hernandez, who had a goal ruled out for offside in the first half, converted a penalty to reduce the arrears yet again, only for the Crew to go down to 10 when Rudy Camacho picked up two bookings in the space of four minutes.
There was to be more drama, though, as Miami defender Ian Fray was judged to have handled in the area, yet this time, Drake Callender guessed correctly to deny Hernandez and ensure victory for Miami.
Data Debrief: Record points total within reach
That is Miami's second piece of silverware in the bag, after their Leagues Cup triumph last year, and the Herons' focus will now switch to an MLS record.
If they win their remaining two games before the postseason, against Toronto FC and New England Revolution, Miami will set the MLS regular-season points record, overtaking the tally of 73 set by the Revolution in 2021.
Kompany: Bayern must learn from defeat to Villa
Vincent Kompany lamented Bayern Munich's profligacy and urged his team to learn from their mistakes after their 1-0 loss to Aston Villa.
Jhon Duran's superb finish at Villa Park saw the hosts claim all three points in Wednesday's Champions League encounter.
It was just the second meeting between Villa and Bayern, with the first having come back in the 1982 European Cup final, which the English team won 1-0.
Bayern had their chances, though, having 17 shots, getting seven on target and mustering 1.42 expected goals (xG), with Emiliano Martinez making a string of fine stops late on.
"We missed some big chances and they scored the chance. We've got to take the learnings from this," said Kompany after suffering his first defeat as Bayern head coach.
"When we have the ball, we're dangerous, but they're a strong team, this isn't an easy place. It wasn't a bad performance.
"If you don't take your chances, it can happen.
"We had big chances, we didn't score them. We gave away a moment and in that moment obviously Villa scored a goal.
"I understand the occasion it was for the opponent and it was a special night for them."
Villa became the second English side to win their first two Champions League games (since 1992-93), after Leicester City in 2016-17.
Bayern, meanwhile, saw their 41-game unbeaten run in the group/league stage of UEFA's elite club competition (the longest such run in the tournament's history) come to an end.
"When we have the ball, we're dangerous, but [Villa] are a strong team, this isn't an easy place. It wasn't a bad performance," Kompany added.
"We conceded very few chances. If we focus on our own work, we will win a lot of games still."
Bayern visit Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
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