The upcoming double-header against Real Madrid has become an obsession at Juventus, leading club president Andrea Agnelli to head down into the dressing room and gee up his players ahead of the trip to the Bernabéu.
Draws against FC Copenhagen and Galatasaray mean that Juventus needs to win at least one of its two meetings with Real in order to boost its chances of progressing to the Champions League knockout stages.
Antonio Conte, meanwhile, is keeping his cards closer to his chest. Though aware of the magnitude of the clash in Madrid, he sidestepped the issue when speaking to the press on Saturday, claiming he is purely focused on tonight's game against Fiorentina.
Actions speak louder than words, however, and though he protested that he isn't "interested" in the Real encounter yet, the truth is that Conte has spent the last two training sessions preparing for 'Los Blancos'. With Quagliarella and Vucinic out, he will likely have to abandon his favoured 3-5-2 formation, with Carlos Tévez instead flying solo up front in a 3-5-1-1 system.
The prospect of the Bernabéu also helps explain why Conte, famed as a tough taskmaster, has been lenient in his punishment for Chilean midfielder Arturo Vidal, who reported back from international duty 24 hours late.
"Truth be told, I still don't know why Vidal was late back. It's a serious offence and as such we will be disciplining him", the Italian coach explained. The Chilean's reprimand, however, will not go beyond a fine, freeing him to start at the Bernabéu on Wednesday.
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