Allegri backs Juve to beat Benfica after thrashing Empoli

Massimiliano Allegri backed his Juventus side to claim a vital Champions League win at Benfica after they thrashed Empoli 4-0 on Friday.

The Bianconeri followed up their derby victory over Torino last weekend with an impressive display at the Allianz Arena, where Moise Kean put them in front with his first goal since April.

Weston McKennie opened his Serie A account for the season to double their lead and there were two late goals for Adrien Rabiot as Juve moved above Inter into seventh place.

Allegri’s future had been called into question following defeats to Milan and Maccabi Haifa, but the Turin giants look to have turned the corner.

They must win at Benfica on Tuesday to have any chance of qualifying for the Champions League round of 16 and head coach Allegri fancies their chances in Lisbon.

He said: “Tonight it was important to win because we are behind in the championship and we hadn’t won two in a row.

“Unfortunately we have to chase in the championship for the points lost against Salernitana and Monza. Tuesday will be an important match for two reasons: we are not out of the Champions League and we are not even in the Europa League.

“We will face a strong team, we can go there and overturn the result [they were beaten at home by Benfica], we need to be confident.”

Squadra #JuveEmpoli pic.twitter.com/OqdwOMVgHo

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Allegri was happy with the performances of striker Kean and midfielder Rabiot and believes there is more to come from the duo.

He added: “Kean made a good performance, he had already done well against Toro [Torino] and missed the goal. He could have scored more than one goal too tonight, especially in the first half, he played well technically.

“Rabiot has grown a lot: he makes important plays. I think he still has a lot of room for improvement on a technical level.”