AC Milan vs Juventus: Hosts not afraid of unbeaten rivals

AC Milan go into their clash with Juventus six points behind their unbeaten opponents in the Serie A standings and while they have plenty of respect for their rivals, fear will not enter into it, manager Paulo Fonseca said on Friday.

Milan have played a game less than Thiago Motta’s side, but three defeats have left them in seventh place and playing catch-up, with Juve one place ahead.

“It’s not decisive, but it’s important, like all of them,” Fonseca told reporters ahead of Saturday’s game.

“I can’t say that the match against Juve is more important than the next one against Empoli because we need consecutive wins.

“It is a different game, but I always think positively. We are Milan, we have a lot of respect for the ‘Bianconeri’, but we are not afraid. We are here ready to win.”

Juventus are missing their top scorer Dusan Vlahovic for this game, but Fonseca knows the dangers of his likely replacement Timothy Weahafter managing him in France at Lille.

“Juve know how to adapt very well. I don’t know if Weah will play,” Fonseca said.

“Weah is very quick and attacks deep, not like Vlahovic. Of course it won’t be the same.

“We will have to pay attention to movements in depth and less to support work because he is a player who does less of this job.”

Although results have not always gone Fonseca’s way in his first season in charge at Milan, the big wins when it mattered came against rivals Inter Milan in the league and more recently at Real Madrid in the Champions League.

“I think it’s a matter of motivation and not pressure,” Fonseca said.

“Against Inter, Juve and Real it’s easy to be motivated, it’s harder to go to Cagliari and have the same motivation.

“The pressure is always with us, every day. If we don’t want pressure, then we shouldn’t be here.”

Juventus go into the match as the only unbeaten team in Serie A, but find themselves sixth in what has so far been a very close title race, with just two points separating Motta’s side from leaders Napoli.

“It’s very balanced and it’s good for both us and the public,” Motta said.

“We must all try to continue like this. We must try to get as many positive results as possible.”