Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri is backing his players as they attempt to bring a difficult season to a satisfactory conclusion.
Saturday’s 1-0 Serie A defeat at Lazio left Juve 17 points behind runaway leaders Inter Milan, who entertain lowly Empoli on Monday evening, and knowing they now have only Champions League qualification and the prospect of Coppa Italia glory for which to play.
They will attempt to take a step towards the latter on Tuesday evening when they face the Rome club for the second time in four days, this time on home turf at the Allianz Stadium in the first leg of the domestic cup semi-final, with either Fiorentina or Atalanta awaiting the winners.
Allegri told a press conference: “The guys must have confidence in themselves. They’re a great group who always give their all on the pitch.
“We have to keep working because we still have two important objectives to aim for in securing Champions League qualification and the Coppa Italia.
“I have nothing to criticise the boys for, we just have to get through this period.”
The 14-times winners head into the game in indifferent form, with Adam Marusic’s stoppage-time strike at the Stadio Olimpico at the weekend extending their league run to just one win in nine games.
With second-placed AC Milan six points ahead of Allegri’s men in third and just two separating them from Bologna in fourth, the pressure is on in the race for Champions League qualification.
In the circumstances, the prospect of reaching a domestic cup final may provide a welcome distraction.
Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny said: “It’s a bad period in which you realise that everybody needs to give more for Juventus.
“We really have a lot of desire to do well, but the results aren’t coming at the moment. We know that we haven’t done well enough in the last two months and what is needed to achieve our goals.
“The Coppa Italia is a trophy that we can still win and Champions League qualification is very important for us and it’s up to us to seal it.”
Lazio’s win at the weekend, which kept them in touch with the top six, was their second in succession after a run of four successive defeats in all competitions, including a Champions League exit at the hands of Bayern Munich, and they will be keen to keep the momentum going under new boss Igor Tudor.
They have lifted the trophy on seven occasions, most recently in 2019, but will be without goalkeeper Ivan Provedel under concussion protocols.
Allegri has Filip Kostic available after illness, while Alex Sandro and Carlos Alcaraz have returned to training following injury lay-offs, but Arkadiusz Milik is still out.
Ancelotti lauds Real Madrid goalscorer Vinicius after first-leg double
Carlo Ancelotti believes Vinicius Junior is constantly developing his attacking output, after the Real Madrid forward delivered again in the Champions League.
Vinicius scored twice as Madrid drew 2-2 with Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final tie on Tuesday.
Those strikes took Vinicius to 31 goal involvements (16 goals, 15 assists) in the Champions League since the start of the 2021-22 campaign, which is more than any other player in the competition in the same time period.
Vinicius' opener came when he cut inside and latched onto an exceptional pass from Toni Kroos, and Ancelotti pointed out how the Brazil international is beginning to change how he attacks.
Speaking to TNT Sports, Ancelotti said: "Vinicius is starting to understand how important it is for him to move inside the pitch and not only close to the line.
"He's learned really well how to move. It was a fantastic pass from Kroos but a fantastic run from Vinicius."
Reflecting on his team's performance, Ancelotti said: "It was an interesting game, an open game of course – as it has to be for a semi-final. I think we could play better, I don’t think we played our best and we had problems in the first half.
"We started to put pressure on in the second half to level the game – it was much better.
"We are comfortable with a low block but we didn’t play with intensity. With a low block you have to have intensity, you have to win duels, second balls. We were too low. We tried to change something.
"The game was difficult at 2-1 down, but then we had the energy and character to equalise – the second part of the second half was really good."
Al Ittihad 1-2 Al Hilal: Holders into King's Cup final
Al Hilal overcame Sergej Milinkovic-Savic's red card as Saud Abdulhamid's late goal sealed a 2-1 victory over Al Ittihad in the King's Cup semi-finals.
Without Karim Benzema, Al Ittihad ultimately lacked the firepower to make their numerical advantage count in Tuesday's clash.
Former Lazio midfielder, who joined Al Hilal as part of their spending spree last year, received a straight red card in the 42nd minute.
Al Ittihad's Abderrazzaq Hamed-Allah cancelled out Micheal's opener, but Abdulhamid popped up with the winner in the 81st minute.
Al Hilal are 10-time King's Cup winners, having won their 10th title last season.
The Saudi Pro League leaders, who are still without the injured Neymar, will now face either Al Khaleej or Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr in the final at the end of May.
Data Debrief: Malcom in the middle
Al Hilal might be missing their star Brazilian Neymar, but his compatriot Malcom is delivering when it comes to playmaking.
The former Zenit attacker set up both of Al Hilal's goals, creating three chances in total and registering a pass accuracy of 92.6 per cent, better than any of his team-mates.
Former Spain boss Del Bosque to oversee RFEF
Former Spain boss Vicente del Bosque will oversee a new committee supervising the RFEF.
Spain, which is due to be one of six host countries for the 2030 World Cup, announced the creation of a special committee until the federation holds elections to replace Luis Rubiales.
That is despite Pedro Rocha having this week been appointed as Rubiales' replacement, though he himself is under investigation amid a corruption probe.
Rubiales was dismissed following his unsolicited kiss on Jenni Hermoso during the Women's World Cup trophy ceremony in 2023.
The federation's former president was then arrested in early April as part of a corruption investigation.
Del Bosque led Spain to three consecutive trophies, winning the European Championships in 2008 and 2012, while also leading the team to their first World Cup success in 2010.
Prior to his time with the national team, he also won two Champions Leagues and two LaLiga titles while in charge of Real Madrid, where he made over 400 appearances as a player.
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