Juve fighting for the Champions League, Pirlo for his job

From the European Super League to the Europea League, that is the worst fear for Juventus chief Andrea Agnelli. But that’s the reality at the moment. Not only that the Old Lady won’t be a champion for the first time since 2011, but they could very well end without the Champions League as well.

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On Sunday, Juventus will face always unpredictable Udinese from the fifth place on the table, considering that Milan won on Saturday and went to second place, for at least half a day. And coach Andrea Pirlo knows that failing to win both title and the place in the most valuable competition in Europa could cost him the job.

"The team is fully aware this is a difficult moment. We had a chat about everything, as always. I am not concerned when it comes to my work. I only hear rumors from you reporters. We talked about it, there are five games with 15 points up for grabs, then the Coppa Italia Final with Atalanta. It’s a delicate time, we must try to get points to qualify for the Champions League. Udinese are a very physical team full of players who also have great technical quality, not just Rodrigo De Paul and Roberto Pereyra. They concede very few goals, defend well, and are organized. It’s a difficult game that awaits us, but we have an objective in our minds“ said Pirlo at the press conference.

The game will be even more tricky for Juve since they have problems with injuries, so Dybala and Ronaldo will team up again in the attack, and it’s evident that Cristiano is not in form.

"Ronaldo will play with Dybala because Morata is not in good shape. He had a problem yesterday with his calf muscle. Danilo is fine, Federico Chiesa less so, as he trained separately from the group this week. He is not at 100 percent yet and it’d be risky to start him tomorrow. Arthur only trained with the team yesterday due to another problem, Aaron Ramsey is still separate. We’ve had a few issues. Dejan Kulusevski trained with his teammates all week and could start” explained Pirlo.

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By the time Juventus comes out on the field to play Udinese, his other rivals will finish their games already. Napoli and Atalanta are playing at 4 PM and the current number two in the league will have a tougher task.

Atalanta will take on eight-placed Sassuolo, who is on a mini-series of four consecutive wins, including AC Milan two weeks ago. But, Atalanta has not lost since the defeat against Inter in March, and they are currently undefeated in seven straight games (six wins, one draw).

Napoli should have an easier task at home against relegation strugglers Cagliari. Head coach Gennaro Gattuso will certainly look forward to finishing fourth as he is almost certain to leave at the end of the season. He was almost sacked during a bad run but now Napoli is back into contention for the Champions League.

SERIE A - Round 34

Saturday

Hellas Verona - Spezia 1-1 (0-0)

/Salcedo 46 - Saponara 86/

Crotone - Inter 0-2 (0-0)

/Eriksen 69, Hakimi 90+3/

Milan - Benevento 2-0 (1-0)

/Calhanoglu 6, Hernandez 60/

Sunday

13.30: Lazio - Genoa

16.00: Sassuolo - Atalanta

16.00: Napoli - Cagliari

16.00: Bologna - Fiorentina

19.00: Udinese - Juventus

21.45: Sampdoria - Roma

Monday

21.45: Torino - Parma