Max Allegri is ‘not worried’ by Juventus losing their clean sheet record after 615 minutes to Cagliari or the lack of goals from strikers, but warns Inter ‘anything can happen’ in their showdown.
It was tougher than expected for the Bianconeri, who broke the deadlock on the hour mark with a looping header from Gleison Bremer, then 10 minutes later Daniele Rugani cushioned another corner over the line with his chest.
However, Alberto Dossena nodded in another set play to put Cagliari back in the game and only the fingertip of Wojciech Szczesny in combination with the upright prevented Dossena from completing the comeback.
Their run of clean sheets has ended after 615 minutes of football and this is the first time all season Juve conceded from a dead-ball situation.
“It was important to win, as it would put us in a strong position in the table. It is never easy to win games, Cagliari are in excellent form,” Allegri told DAZN.
“After going 2-0 up, we stopped moving the ball around quickly enough and then conceded a goal from a corner. We had to concede sooner or later, fortunately it was not a goal that influenced the result.
“I thought we struggled a bit for the first half-hour, but after that the legs were moving a bit faster. We should’ve scored earlier, but still remained compact and made the most of those set plays. We knew Cagliari were good in the air, so it would be difficult.”
There were only eight goals scored in the last seven Serie A games by Juve and only two were down to a striker, specifically Arkadiusz Milik.
“I am not worried at all. We have started creating more chances, the goals will come and it’s not a concern,” assured the coach.
“We need to be more efficient, calmer in making the final ball, but the spirit is extraordinary. The squad know that they need that to bring home the victory.
“While at the start of the season we got a bit frustrated when not finding the net, now we remain solid and consistent.”
At the start of the second half, Juve midfielders started to press higher and win the ball back more often.
Weston McKennie has gone from the loan at Leeds United to being a regular in the Juventus starting XI, so what did Allegri say to make such a big difference?
“Wes is having a good season, I think he is maturing too after the experience on loan. I spoke to him too, he has physical strength that helps cover for a few technical errors, but when running into space, he can be devastating.
“I told him at the start of the season that this was a very important year for him, he would be a wing-back and so he had to run back and forth. He put himself at our disposal.
“What I learned is that at Juve you must keep a low profile, work hard and create the normality of winning. That brings balance and calm. We must work on our limitations and try to make them into strengths.”
This victory puts Juventus top of the table for at least 24 hours, as Inter will host Frosinone on Sunday evening.
With Milan fumbling a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 away to Lecce, that means the Old Lady can no longer deny they are heading into a Scudetto showdown with Inter after the break for international duty. Does Allegri think Inter are the favourites for that match in Turin?
“In a one-off game anything can happen. Inter are certainly the favourites to win the Scudetto, along with Milan and Napoli. We must try to remain up there above all to have the advantage over fifth place.
“Inter were built to win the Scudetto for a few years now, they haven’t managed it yet, but are the favourites this season.”