Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri wants his side to close in on a place in the Champions League knockout stages by beating Lyon in France on Tuesday night.
The Bianconeri started out with a 0-0 draw at home to Sevilla and followed that up with a convincing 4-0 win at Dinamo Zagreb. Victory in France would therefore put them in a commanding position in the group at the midway stage of the campaign and allow them to focus on defending or extending their five-point lead at the top of Serie A without much further distraction.
Reaching the round of 16 once again would also be a great personal satisfaction for the former AC Milan coach.
"Certainly this game could be very significant in terms of qualification," Allegri told Mediaset television. "If we win, it would put us on the brink of qualifying, knowing then that in the return [against Lyon] in Turin, we could wrap up qualification.
"The objective is to get through because it would be the seventh last-16 qualification in a row for me in the Champions League and that would be huge.
"A year and a half after the final against Barcelona, we've changed 16 players and this is a stimulus for the club, who have put some quality players at my disposal."
.@OfficialAllegri: "Flawless performance required against @OL_English." The boss' message ahead of #OLJuve �� https://t.co/uu1bx6DtdE #UCL pic.twitter.com/kqoaXxVk1A
- JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) October 17, 2016
Giorgio Chiellini, Claudio Marchisio and Mario Mandzukic have all been left behind, while Moise Kean is included and, if he features, he would become the first player born in the new millennium to play in the Champions League.
That is quite a strong possibility too with Allegri confirming that the 16-year-old is a serious alternative for a late cameo.
"I've got three forwards available and that includes Kean," Allegri said. "I'm sorry about Mandzukic's injury and obviously [Paulo] Dybala and [Gonzalo] Higuain will start, but I also have [Juan] Cuadrado as an alternative."
Marchisio may be an alternative for the top-of-the-table clash with Milan at the weekend with Allegri admitting that he had been left out to "favour the best possible recovery and not to risk anything" after such a long injury absence, even though the Italy international is now back training fully with the rest of the team.