Allegri unwilling to risk Pogba for a full game

Massimiliano Allegri confirmed Paul Pogba is “not ready to play the whole game” when Juventus travel to Sassuolo in Serie A on Sunday.

Pogba has endured a torrid time since re-joining the Bianconeri from Manchester United last year due to a succession of injury setbacks, while he also missed the World Cup in Qatar.

A five-minute cameo in the midweek Europa League victory over Sporting CP represented only his third appearance of the campaign – all of which have come as a substitute.

Allegri feels Juve’s clash with Sassuolo is too soon for Pogba to be thrown in from the start, but the head coach is confident the 30-year-old can still significantly impact the remainder of their campaign.

“Pogba is training well. Yesterday, he did 20 minutes of good training with the ball. Today, we see how he is,” Allegri told reporters.

“At the moment, he is not ready to play the whole game, but he can only improve, and I think he will be able to show us his quality – if not for the whole game, for the minutes in which he will play from here to the end of the championship.”

Allegri also confirmed Wojciech Szczesny will be rested for the trip to Mapei Stadium.

The Poland international was substituted during the first half of the win over Sporting after suffering chest pains, though he was subsequently checked and given the all-clear by the medical team.

Mattia Perin, who produced an impressive display from the bench, is likely to deputise.

“Today, I will talk to [Szczesny],” Allegri added. “If he is serene and calm, he can come with us and stay on the bench, so at least he will have a day of recovery and rest.

“Perin is in excellent condition and has become an important goalkeeper. Compared to when he arrived at Juventus, he has made progress and important improvements.

“He is one of the best goalkeepers there are for reliability and presence in the game.”

Mattia coming up big, T W I C E!pic.twitter.com/4KL3P3W4l0

— JuventusFC(@juventusfcen) April 15, 2023