Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba could make his long awaited return to the pitch in the Serie A clash against Torino on Tuesday after recovering from a number of injuries, manager Massimiliano Allegri said yesterday.
The France international had an operation on a damaged meniscus in September and also missed the World Cup in Qatar with the national squad.
The only time Pogba has been part of the team this season was as an unused substitute in the 2-0 loss against Monza on January 29.
Pogba will be called up for the derby and will play if necessary. He doesn’t have important playing time in his legs, but further than enough, ”Allegri told correspondents.
I’ve spoken to him as I’ve done with the other players. He must understand that we’re at an important stage of the season. He must have the drive to have given his contribution at the end of the season.
Allegri added that forward Federico Chiesa, who has been on and off with injuries this season, is also back in regular training after missing recent games. “
Yesterday, Chiesa trained with the squad after six hour a days. Now to say that Pogba can be a starter after 315 days on the sidelines or furthermore, Chiesa, who has been out for 10 months, is another thing. A little tolerance is required,” Allegri said.
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Leonardo Bonucci is fine, but due to his long period of inactivity, he ’ll be sitting close to me at kick-off tomorrow evening. But having him back is already an important plus, he’s the club captain after all.
Allegri’s side are eighth in the standings on 32 points, one above town rivals Torino ahead of the home clash, and will aim to expand their winning streak to four league matches.
Torino are a squad moulded by coach (Ivan) Juric, squads that have a very specific playing system.
They attack a lot, they pile on a lot of pressure. These matches are very violent but we’ve done well at immersing ourselves in these kinds ofchallenges.However, we’re done for,” Allegri said, If we think we can play on our tiptoes.
Juventus were subtracted 15 points for the current season by an Italian soccer court researching the club’s transfer dealings in January. Still, Allegri said that the season’s main goal has not changed.
Whatever of what happens off the pitch, we’ve earned 47 points and we must try and stay in the top four, one of our plans at the start of the season,” he said.
