Juve will not be affected by Pirlo absence, says Conte

Juventus coach Antonio Conte feels his side will not be affected by the absence of Andrea Pirlo when they face Galatasaray on Tuesday.

Pirlo, 34, misses out on Juve’s final UEFA Champions League group stage match due to knee ligament damage sustained in the Turin club’s 1-0 win over Udinese at the start of the month.

Conte’s men only need to avoid defeat in Istanbul to ensure qualification for the last 16, but the 44-year-old insists Juve will not set out to earn a share of the spoils.

“Unfortunately, Pirlo’s missing. But we did well without him against Udinese and Bologna. We’ll need to do even better tomorrow (Tuesday),” said Conte.

“Speculating about the result is not in our mentality; we’ll look to win as we always do.

“We won’t be affected by the fact that two out of three results will see us through. We’ll play our usual game.”

Conte is wary of the threat posed by the Turkish champions, who boast the likes of Didier Drogba, Wesley Sneijder and former Juve man Felipe Melo among their ranks.

“Galatasaray are very strong and will want to make their home advantage count,” added Conte.

“We’ll stick to our plan and try to dictate the play.

“The likes of Drogba and Sneijder are always dangerous. We’ll have to be on our guard throughout.”