Football
Ben Gladwell, Italy correspondent 9y

Sami Khedira set for Juventus debut, Stephan Lichtsteiner ruled out

Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri has confirmed that Sami Khedira will make his Bianconeri debut against Sevilla on Wednesday night, while Stephan Lichtsteiner will miss out due to ongoing health concerns.

The German midfielder has yet to appear for Juve in a competitive match since tearing his rectus femoris muscle in his right thigh during a preseason friendly against Marseille at the start of August. He was ruled out for two months, but is expected to return a few days earlier in a timely boost for Allegri.

"Sami Khedira's not played for a long time, but he's playing tomorrow," said the Juve coach at a news conference in Turin.

"He's often made a good debut, so let's hope he will do that again. He's ready for this game. He's a top international player.

"I don't know if he can last an hour or even more, but he's going to play."

Allegri then took the extraordinary step of revealing his team to face Sevilla in the Champions League on Wednesday night.

Tired of the questions about what system he was planning to deploy in the absence of Stephan Lichtsteiner and Martin Caceres, the latter due to disciplinary reasons, Allegri said he would "make everybody happy" by revealing the names of the players he will be sending out at the Juventus Stadium.

"I'm going to keep one to myself, if you will allow me that, but the rest are [Andrea] Barzagli, [Giorgio] Chiellini, [Leonardo] Bonucci and [Patrice] Evra," Allegri said, before a pause in which several reporters started to put names in his head.

"[Juan] Cuadrado, Khedira, [Paul] Pogba -- and where are we now, the attackers? [Paulo] Dybala and [Alvaro] Morata."

Allegri did not mention Gianluigi Buffon "but he's sat here next to me and knows he's playing," while the 11th name is likely to be Roberto Pereyra, with Hernanes as the alternative.

With such a selection, he is likely to revert to a 3-5-2 formation with an Italian trio at the back and Cuadrado and Evra as wing-backs.

"Are you happy now?" Allegri asked, showing no sign of the pressure he is under due to his side's poor start to the season, amid reports in the Italian papers that he has been given a month to turn things around.

His choices were somewhat forced with Lichtsteiner being referred for tests on his heart after recent dizzy spells. Although able to train with his teammates on Monday, Juve's medical staff were not convinced by his condition.

"Stephan Lichtsteiner will miss out on tomorrow evening's Champions League Group D fixture with Sevilla," read a statement on the Turin club's website.

"Despite returning to the group and training regularly yesterday, the Swiss defender will now be sent to undergo further tests and specialist cardiology consultancy on the advice of the Juventus medical team.

These will aim to fully ascertain the symptoms that caused him to depart last Wednesday's Serie A fixture with Frosinone at half-time."

Juve will be looking to move three points clear at the top of their group by beating the Spaniards, who started, like them, with a victory in their opening group game. The Bianconeri then face Borussia Monchengladbach home and away as they look to seal progression to the knockout stages -- their minimum objective, according to Allegri.

"I think Juventus' aim has always got to be to reach the knockout stage," he said. "Unlike in the past when you had only four teams you wanted to avoid at that stage, there are now eight. So the aim has got to be to reach the last eight, but as I've said the draw for the last 16 can be hard.

"First we've got to win the group and that's not easy. [Winning] the Champions League has got to be the dream, and Juve have always got to think of getting through the group stage."

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