Pirlo: I'll treat Messi with the enormous respect he deserves

Barcelona are heading into their away trip to Turin shaken by a Clasico defeat.

"[Giorgio] Chiellini and [Matthijs] De Ligt are definitely out of tomorrow's game, however we'll evaluate Bonucci's condition.

"[Paulo] Dybala is a little bit tired, but that's normal after his first match as a starter, but he still has some time to recover."

Despite Barcelona's perceived fragility after three matches without a victory, Pirlo was keen to make clear that the Spanish club have players that can cause Juventus a lot of problems.

"There are great players at Barcelona, despite some absences," Pirlo added. "The keys for us will be desire and determination, it will be difficult, but beautiful.

"For 15 years, [Lionel] Messi and Cristiano have done great things, for the first time I'll be taking on Messi as a coach, and I'll treat him with the enormous respect that he deserves."

What is emerging as an interesting subplot to the imminent fixture is the production levels of young stars Ansu Fati and Dejan Kulusevski.

"Kulusevski and Fati are two players with great prospects," Pirlo confirmed. "They are playing with the greatest players of their time and can learn a lot.

"They are different in their characteristics, we'll play with four in defence as it's the only viable solution at this time, in midfield it will be a challenge between two technical teams."

Source: Marca / Dídac Piferrer

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