Antonio Conte insisted Friday that Juventus are focused on Saturday’s match against Serie A strugglers Pescara rather than looking ahead to next week’s Champions League crunch with Bayern Munich.
Juventus will need to overhaul a 2-0 deficit in Turin on Wednesday if they are to advance to the last four of Europe’s top club competition, but Conte refused to be drawn on the clash with the Bavarian giants.
“Today I will speak only of Pescara,” said Conte at Friday’s news conference.
“Right now it’s more important for us than the return leg against Bayern.
“Winning tomorrow would allow us to lay down another brick towards regaining the scudetto,” he added.
Juve were well beaten in the first leg in Germany on Tuesday and have a mountain to climb in next week’s quarter-final, second leg at home.
However, the Old Lady of Turin’s coach is wary of letting that encounter distract his players.
Conte cautioned against underestimating basement side Pescara, warning that Juve would face “banana skins along the way” and placing the onus on his players to avoid any such slip-ups.
He then played down the significance of the Bayern clash, recalling that the team’s objective was to “win the championship two years in a row”.
“There are realistic objectives and those that are unrealistic. We really can win the scudetto, failing to do so would be a shame.
“At the moment, the rest (winning the Champions League) is a dream that we have little chance of achieving, and presumption kills.”
Conte added that reserve goalkeeper Marco Storari would deputise Saturday for captain Gianluigi Buffon, who is suffering from the flu.
Conte says Juve focused on Pescara, not Bayern
