AFP, Milan :
Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri is set to rest key players when the defending champions travel to Inter Milan looking to “score goals” and secure their second successive Italian Cup final Wednesday.
A 2-0 league victory over a hapless Inter side in Turin on Sunday gave Juventus a three-point lead at the top of Serie A after Napoli held an enterprising Fiorentina to a 1-1 draw on Monday.
Inter are out for revenge, but a chastening 3-0 defeat in the first leg of the semi-final — as well as their comparative lack of threat against the champions on Sunday — has left Roberto Mancini’s men needing a miracle if they are to overturn the tie.
Juventus have not reached successive Cup finals since the 1960s, and Allegri warned: “We’ll be going out tomorrow completely focused on reaching the final, and we want to do it by winning. Losing never does you any good.”We’ll go there with plenty of belief, but also to score goals.”
Juve’s cushion from the first leg means Allegri, who has one eye on a decisive Champions League last 16 second leg away to Bayern Munich in a little over two weeks’ time, can afford to rest key players.
Argentine striker Paulo Dybala and Croatian Mario Mandzukic, who started in Sunday’s win, could both start on the bench in place of Simone Zaza and Alvaro Morata.
Part of that decision is because Dybala, as well as defender Leonardo Bonucci, are one booking away from being suspended for the final. “Zaza and Morata could be our choices up front,” said Allegri, who will also be reshuffling his defence.
Patrice Evra will be absent having missed training due to “family reasons” and Giorgio Chiellini — who hobbled off against Inter — is also expected to sit out.
It leaves Allegri with a selection dilemma, with defender Andrea Barzagli expected to rest after a demanding performance in Turin on Sunday.
In midfield, meanwhile, Claudio Marchisio is set for a late fitness test after recovering from an injury knock.
With Inter now 14 points off the pace, all hopes of battling for the Serie A title are over and Mancini’s men also face stiff competition for third spot – the last Champions League qualifying place.
