Massimiliano Allegri says the draw against Udinese must serve a lesson for Juventus and explains Cristiano Ronaldo’s omission.
The Old Lady threw a two-goal lead away at the Dacia Arena, picking up one point in their Serie A opener.
“We played a good game. Unfortunately, that’s what football is about. We should have done better in the second half, we were unable to manage unexpected events. This must serve us as a lesson,” Allegri told DAZN.
“We lost too many balls in the middle of the park in the second half. Perhaps we were a little tired. Still, you can’t concede these kinds of goals. We defended well, we hadn’t conceded a shot on target.”
New signing Manuel Locatelli entered the pitch in the second half along with Cristiano Ronaldo who had started the game on the bench amid rumours he still wants to leave the Bianconeri.
The Portuguese ace played 30 minutes and managed to score a late winner, but his goal was disallowed for offside after a VAR check.
“Locatelli can play as a playmaker or mezzala, he is not 100% fit yet, Ramsey played a good game as a deep-lying playmaker, but we had to manage certain situations in a different way,” Allegri said.
“Ronaldo is feeling well. I had talked to him before the game, telling him he would start on the bench. He made himself available, he did well when he entered the pitch, he also scored a goal, but it was disallowed,” the Old Lady’s coach explained.
Wojciech Szczesny caused a penalty kick and can be blamed for Udinese’s equaliser as he tried to dribble Stefano Okaka on a Leonardo Bonucci back-pass, got caught out and Deulofeu was ready to tap into an empty net.
“Szczesny is a great goalkeeper, he didn’t make a technical mistake, we should have understood the moment and don’t be ashamed of throwing the ball in the stands,” Allegri explained.
“There are many games, I still need to understand how to use five subs, it was the first time I can use them, I don’t know if I used them correctly or not. I need to adapt,” the Tuscan concluded.