Ronaldo is always decisive – Pirlo ready for 'special' Milan clash
Cristiano Ronaldo's performance will be decisive when Juventus meet Milan in a huge Serie A clash on Wednesday, says Andrea Pirlo.
The Juve forward has racked up 14 goals in 11 Serie A games this season, netting a double and adding an assist in Sunday's 4-1 thumping of Udinese.
Pirlo will take charge of a match against Milan, with whom he spent a decade as a player and won the Champions League twice, for the first time.
Despite Ronaldo's form, Juve sit 10 points adrift of impressive leaders Milan, albeit the Bianconeri have a game in hand.
"From the beginning we have tried to exploit Cristiano for his characteristics, clarity and incisiveness in the final third," said Juve boss Pirlo ahead of the San Siro battle.
"Is he decisive? Of course, as he was everywhere.
"But it is normal to depend on him when you have such a champion in your team."
With the pressure on for a crucial clash, Pirlo feels it is Milan and not defending champions Juve who are currently the team to beat.
"Milan have not lost in a long time, they are first in the standings and they are the team to beat," he said.
"I see a great spirit in Milan, which leads them to win games. They come into the game off the back of excellent results, they fight and run together and they don't want to lose.
"The table always reflects the values of the championship. We play game after game to move up the standings, looking only at ourselves. We will see in April where we will be.
"We will try to impose our game at San Siro, without fear: these are the good matches to be involved in."
He added: "It will be a special evening for me, having experienced many memories with Milan. It was wonderful as a player, I think it will be the same as a coach.
"We know the importance of the match. We will play our game and do our best. It will be very important, but not decisive.
"We will need to be good at making few mistakes and to play well, technically, in order to not give space to Milan's breakaways, which is one of their strengths.
"In the Italian league you can't give up, not even for a second - every match must be faced with the same concentration. I want to see a Juve convinced of their strength, who play the game we have in mind."
Pirlo was asked for an update on available players after Alex Sandro tested positive for coronavirus.
"After Alex Sandro tested positive, we will have the results of the team's tests in the afternoon - until then we wait," he said.
"[Paulo] Dybala is doing pretty well, he is better after his fever so should be available for the game.
"[Alvaro] Morata is recovering and doing physiotherapy, [Giorgio] Chiellini and [Merih] Demiral are doing quite well, while Arthur and [Adrien] Rabiot have both recovered.
"On Wednesday, we will evaluate who we will have available to bring to Milan. There will be no excuse for the game - the squad is competitive in all sectors. Other teams have had the same problems."
Milan won 4-2 against Juve in July, so they are looking for back-to-back wins against Juventus in Serie A for the first time since 2010, when Pirlo was playing at San Siro under Leonardo.
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David, King demand more from Soca Warriors in October window as League A survival on the line
Trinidad and Tobago’s interim head coach Derek King and captain Aubrey David were left ruing the Soca Warriors’s sub-par performances in the September window, which has their Concacaf Nations League, League A survival in the balance.
The Soca Warriors, who lost their opening contest 0-4 away to Honduras, were heavily favoured to take three points off French Guiana in the following encounter at home, but they were instead held to a goalless stalemate.
This was much to the disappointment of King, David, and the many spectators that flocked the Dwight Yorke Stadium, as that result left the Twin Island Republic sitting at the foot of Group B on a point. Jamaica (four points), Nicaragua (four points), Honduras (three points), Cuba (two points), and French Guiana (one point) complete the group.
The Soca Warriors now face a must-win scenario in their next two fixtures against Cuba on October 10 and 14 to have a slim chance at making the top two for a quarterfinal berth, but more importantly to avoid relegation to League B.
Having made the quarterfinal in the previous edition of the Concacaf Nations League, David believes there is a need for individual and collective introspection as they need to raise the standard of their game.
"It was a sad result for us. It's a draw, but it feels like a loss for us because three points would have put us in a good position in the group once again. Unfortunately, we didn't get going. We need to reset again because we have two important games coming up,” David said as he reflected on the outcome of their contest against French Guiana.
"I think we as a team have to look at ourselves in the mirror and go back to the drawing board and look at the things that brought us success in the last campaign. I think we need to be humble and have that hunger to get good results,” he added.
Alvin Jones echoed similar sentiments.
"I think each and everyone has to look in the mirror and decide what they want—whether we want to play big football or we just want to compete. I think we have a lot of work to do mentally and physically. Each and every player,” he noted.
Meanwhile, King, who was appointed ahead of the tournament following the dismissal of Angus Eve, felt his team could have done more to secure the three points against French Guiana.