Max Allegri insists it was ‘not easy’ for Juventus to beat Lazio 3-2 on aggregate and reach the Coppa Italia Final, especially with the ‘pressure’ of potential elimination.
The coach stormed off down the tunnel at the moment of the final whistle, having screamed angrily at his players during stoppages in the 2-1 defeat at the Stadio Olimpico.
They had fumbled a 2-0 first leg lead thanks to a Taty Castellanos brace, but Arkadiusz Milik came off the bench and scored with his first touch, meeting the Timothy Weah pull-back from six yards.
“It was a game of suffering, we knew that it would be, especially after conceding a goal straight away from a set play,” Allegri told Sport Mediaset.
“We had a few more chances with Vlahovic and Bremer, risked capitulating on the stroke of half-time too, but we then improved physically and had a good second half. It was not easy, because going behind so early into the second half on a counter-attack, these lads could’ve crumbled.”
It sends Juve into the Coppa Italia Final against either Atalanta or Fiorentina on May 15, but also ensures they will be in next season’s Supercoppa Italiana Final Four tournament.
“It’s never easy to reach a Final, in the last three years we have played two Coppa Italia Finals. Now we must concentrate on Serie A, as we have not yet achieved Champions League qualification and this weekend it’s the head-to-head with Milan.”
Allegri stormed off
Allegri seemed absolutely furious at the final whistle and was already halfway down the tunnel before the referee had called an end to the match.
“At this moment, the games at Juventus mean a lot and these are matches that for various reasons over the last year and a half we did not play. It was not an ideal situation last year, with many things happening off the field.
“This season we were fighting, well not fighting, but being up there with Inter until January and then we collapsed. The last couple of months have had a lot of pressure, we picked up few Serie A points, but still have the opportunity to lock down this Champions League spot and have reached the Coppa Italia Final.”
Alex Sandro was comfortably out-leaped by Castellanos for the opening goal, while Gleison Bremer also made an error on the second goal.
“We knew full well that elimination this evening would’ve had a knock-on effect for our psychology going into Saturday’s game with Milan. Let’s not beat about the bush, the pressure at Juventus is enormous and this was a test for these lads.
“They stayed in the game, improved throughout the second half and we made mistakes, but also created favourable situations. Over the two legs, despite Lazio playing very well tonight, I think we deserved to reach the final.”
There was confusion on the touchline, as Kenan Yildiz was warmed up and ready, then sent back to the bench and Weah came on instead, while Federico Chiesa was kept on until the end despite making very little impact.
“Chiesa is a player who can seem out of the game for 70 minutes, then in a flash he decides the whole match.”
The media is confident that Allegri will be fired at the end of the season, despite them achieving the targets that he insists had been asked of him this season.
“This Final is also worth the Supercoppa Italiana qualification, so that is important financially for the club. Criticism will always be around Juventus, but it’s our own fault for having a great first half to the season that nobody was expecting. At that point, people thought we could fight it out with Inter, but I was worried that we could have difficulties in the second half. We had a big advantage and mentally rather let go.”