Fiorentina’s Kevin-Prince Boateng is insistent that reigning Serie A champions Juventus are not unbeatable ahead of this weekend’s encounter between the two Italian sides.
Vincenzo Montella’s squad continue their search for three points after a stuttering start to their 2019-20 campaign, losing both league fixtures so far.
A Juventus encounter upon return from the international break represents a challenge for a winless squad but Boateng remains positive.
“We’ve analysed the last two weeks to work out where we’ve come up short. Now we’re against a great team so we have to be firing on all cylinders,” he said at a pre-match press conference.
“I’m not going to say we want to play well. We want to win and we’ll do everything we can to make it happen.
“It may be Juve, but no team is unbeatable.”
Montella has choices to make in defence, with Erik Pulgar and German Pezzella competing for a starting slot.
French winger Franck Ribery has been resigned to the bench thus far this season, but the former Bayern Munich stalwart could feature as Fiorentina face their toughest encounter this season.
Speaking at the press conference, Montella welcomed the return of Juve boss Maurizio Sarri, saying: “I’m glad that Sarri is back on the bench, in his career we often crossed paths.
“It’s a pleasure to see him again.”
Now recovered from a bout of pneumonia, Sarri will be present in the Juventus dugout for the first time since taking charge of the club.
Having departed Premier League club Chelsea at the end of last season to take the role at Juve, the Italian could not attend his side’s victories over either Parma or Napoli due to the illness.
“For a coach, sitting on the bench and watching over training is life so it wasn’t easy to sit out,” he said at the club’s pre-match press conference.
“Thanks to the doctors who treated me and helped me understand that I had to take a step back. I was very calm because my coaching staff did a great job.”
“Right now I’m thinking only about the league, our attention has to be focused on tomorrow. We are in a phase in which rotating now is difficult, because we are finding our identity and our structure.”
“We have to change our way of managing the game in certain situations – taking more possession of the ball and not waiting for our opponents on the edge of the penalty area.”
“Against Napoli we waited too long and we didn’t manage certain phases of the game well. We’re not at our top levels physically yet.”
“The loss of Giorgio Chiellini was heavy for us. Now my goal is to completely recover Daniele Rugani and help Matthijs de Ligt adapt to Italian football as quickly as possible.”
Captain Chiellini is joined on the sidelines by centre-back Mattia de Sciglio and midfielder Aaron Ramsey, who are also suffering from injuries.
