Allegri calls for repetition of Atletico defeat in attempt to overcome Ajax
Juve are favourites after drawing the first leg of their quarter-final 1-1 in Amsterdam last week when Cristiano Ronaldo’s 125th Champions League goal was cancelled out by Ajax’s David Neres.
But Allegri insists his side must replicate their secondleg performance against Atletico when they won 3-0 in Turin to overturn a 2-0 deficit.
“The result of the first leg doesn’t count for anything,” said Allegri. “It’s a one-off game and we need to play with the same attitude as we did against Atletico.
“We need to have a lot of respect for Ajax in defence and be precise in our movements.
“It will be a physical game. To counteract their play we need to be technically sound and we’ll have to play better than we did in the first game.”
Captain Giorgio Chiellini and striker Mario Mandzukic have yet to recover from injury and will miss out, while Allegri confirmed Douglas Costa (thigh) was not fully fit.
Ajax pulled off a stunning second-leg result of their own against Real Madrid in the last round. Having lost the first leg at home 2-1, they stormed to a 4-1 win at the Bernabeu to win a Champions League knockout tie for the first time in 22 years. “At the start of the season, nobody expected us to be in the final eight,” said head coach Erik Ten Hag, pictured. “But the team has developed to such an extent that we can compete with these giants. We believe in it and have faith in a good result. That is how we will meet Juventus.”
Ajax midfielder Frenkie De Jong, who will join Barcelona in the summer, is struggling with a hamstring strain but has not been ruled out.
Ten Hag added: “This team (Juventus] are a lot better than Real. They are very mature. We did very well last week and we will have to do that again.”
Arsenal moved back into the Premier League top four as ten-man Watford provided the tonic for their away-day ills.
With questions hanging over their poor form on the road, the Gunners benefited from a rare Ben Foster mistake and a rash moment from Troy Deeney, which saw the Watford skipper sent off as Arsenal still laboured heavily to a 1-0 win.
The hosts started the game on the front foot but then two of their standout performers of recent times turned the game in favour of Unai Emery’s side in under two minutes.
Foster – so reliable in the Watford goal this season – inexplicably dallied when clearing his lines and could only smash the ball into the foot of Pierre-emerick Aubameyang as he tore down on him, the ball flashing into the empty net.
If that was not enough, captain Deeney was dismissed moments later as he appeared to catch Lucas Torreira with a stray forearm.
Referee Craig Pawson liaised with his assistant before producing the red card, an angry Deeney removing his shirt and exchanging views with the Arsenal bench as he finally departed.
Arsenal had won just five away league games all season before travelling to face the FA Cup finalists and still made a meal out of securing the three points required to leapfrog both Chelsea and Manchester United into fourth.
Craig Cathcart went closest for Watford with a shot that was pushed on to the post by Bernd Leno as Arsenal held on.