Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri wants his squad to focus on obtaining results and maintain a push for a place in Europe next season.
The Bianconeri will face Atalanta on Sunday evening, but they are now 10th in Serie A with 22 points after they were slapped with a 15-point penalty for financial fraud.
Although Juventus are expected to appeal the decision to CONI (Italian National Olympic Commitee), Allegri wants his players to play as if the deduction is final and regain ground on the teams battling for Champions League and Europa League spots.
Juventus squad to focus on battle for Europe despite points deduction
Allegri spoke in his press conference on Saturday and discussed how he does not want his players to be distracted by the fiasco off the pitch. However, after the resignation of the board last November, the circumstances seemed inevitable to him.
“Tomorrow is an important game, it’s a special match after what happened yesterday,” he said.
“We all have to pull together even more, continue to work with a low profile. We only have to think about the pitch.
“We must do our duty because the final verdict will be in two months and we must not let ourselves find ourselves in two months with regrets for not having done what we had to do. But we also went through this two months ago with the overturning of the board of directors.
“We come out of these unforeseen events individually strengthened with all the serenity of the case and above all with commitment and determination to do what we have to do, which is to win on the pitch.
“I was not in a position to talk about the seriousness. The certain thing is that we have to accept the verdict, for us on the sporting side these things should not concern us.
“We have to do our utmost, stay silent and make this challenge based on these 22 points. And I am convinced that the boys will do everything they can to get the maximum and maybe do something extraordinary.”
Allegri pays tribute to outgoing Juventus board members
As part of their involvement in the capital gains scandal, former Juventus board members Federico Cherubini, Andrea Agnelli, Pavel Nedved, Maurizio Arrivabene, and Paolo Garimberti were all penalised. However, Allegri was nevertheless emphatic towards then and still spoke glowing about their time at the club.
“At Juventus everyone has their own responsibility depending on their role,” he said.
“I am very sorry on a personal level for Cherubini, Agnelli, Nedved, Arrivabene and Garimberti. Besides the professional aspect, there is also the human one that goes beyond that.”
Allegri has no plans to abandon ship
Despite the circumstances that Juventus are in, Allegri intends to stay with the club and he will only leave if the club decided to sack him.
“I am the Juventus coach and I will remain the Juventus coach unless they send me away,” he said.
“In difficult moments you have to take responsibility in order to do well. When there are positive moments we are all good.”
