Allegri wary of Sampdoria threat

Massimiliano Allegri is predicting a match for the purists when his AC Milan side take on fellow entertainers Sampdoria in the Coppa Italia.

Serie A league leaders Milan travel on Wednesday to Genoa to meet Sampdoria – ninth in the table – with a place in the cup’s semi-finals on offer.

Domenico Di Carlo’s side lost 1-0 to Lazio earlier this month, but they have also secured a 0-0 draw with Juventus, scored twice in a 2-2 draw with in-form Udinese and beaten Roma 2-1.

Such results leave Allegri under no illusions about the potential for an upset at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris in the quarter-final.

“Well, first of all, tomorrow we’re playing in the quarter-final and it’s an important match,” Allegri said.

“We are up against Sampdoria and they know how to play football so hopefully we will both play well.”

“We have managed to win both our last matches in the Coppa Italia and in the league. We have scored five goals and have conceded none, this is an important point. We need to keep on playing this way and we need to keep giving 100 percent. In order to do this, great effort is necessary.”

Milan travel to Catania on Saturday intent on preserving or extending their four-point lead in the Italian title race, but for now Allegri would prefer to concentrate on the task at hand.

“We should focus on tomorrow’s match and not on the fact that we’ll be playing against Catania on Saturday evening,” Allegri said.

“When we focus and take it game at a time, we are able to achieve better results.”