Max Allegri admits it would’ve been ‘disappointing to lose after playing so well’ against Atalanta and was ultimately content with a point for Juventus in Bergamo.
The Bianconeri saw their clean sheet run ruined after 381 minutes of football by a Ruslan Malinovskyi scorcher into the top corner, but Danilo snatched a last-gasp equaliser by nodding in Paulo Dybala’s corner.
Serie A | Atalanta 1-1 Juventus: Danilo replies to Malinovskyi scorcher
It means Juve still have fourth place, but Atalanta also have a game in hand, so the fight for Champions League qualification remains wide open.
“It would’ve been disappointing to lose a game after playing so well,” Allegri told DAZN.
“We made mistakes in our finishing and the final ball, there were three minutes of terror just before half-time on the counter after we lost the ball cheaply and De Ligt threw himself in the way twice.
“The second half was better, paradoxically when we were meant to score, we got the pass wrong, Atalanta were on the counter and Malinovskyi did well to win that free kick. It was an extraordinary goal and Danilo scored a great equaliser.”
This was another game with the super trident of Dusan Vlahovic, Alvaro Morata and Paulo Dybala together.
“McKennie opened up a lot of spaces for Dybala and Morata. The lads had some good triangles, the first chance was created by McKennie and Dybala, but there was a period where we got too crammed together and didn’t spread the play.
“Atalanta are very aggressive, so we had to move the ball quickly to get it behind them. It was a very entertaining game, we were losing 1-0 and risked defeat, but it is an important point. We wanted to win, but knew Atalanta were strong and so we’re happy to keep the unbeaten run going.”
Allegri had already said Juventus were out of the Scudetto race even before this stalemate, but they have now fallen even further behind new leaders Milan.
“It was official before this. There are too many points to claw back from three teams. We just try to improve our performances and we need to make a step forward when we have that final ball to turn a chance into a goal. That’s where we need to do better.”
Allegri was asked why Denis Zakaria remained on the bench this evening.
“There were a lot of spaces to attack, McKennie is very good at that and he played well tonight. Zakaria had just come off two games, so we needed fresh legs there.”
The Bianconeri had not conceded a goal in 381 minutes of Serie A football until that Malinovskyi screamer.
“I think the only time in the last 10-12 years that the best defence didn’t win the Scudetto was a couple of seasons ago with Maurizio Sarri. I said in September that Inter would win, I still feel that they are the strongest squad, no disrespect to Milan and Napoli.
“Right now, Inter are stronger than Juve. We dropped too many points at the start of the season. If we had just four points more, we could’ve had some fun, but that’s not where we are.”
Juventus snatch a late equaliser at Atalanta! 😲
Dybala’s corner finds Danilo who steps with a perfect header and Allegri’s side salvage a point on the road 💥 pic.twitter.com/0XRQUnsXMF
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) February 13, 2022
Hello everybody, I have one question. Maybe someone have Allegri mobile phone number? Because I need to talk little bit with him about Rabiot role in the team!
This is precisely the problem…. “he is CONTENT with a draw”……. If you don’t GO for a win, you don’t get it. Midfield battle was totally lost. How do you rest Zakaria in a match like this, when he is what you’ve been missing all season??? McKennie and Rabiot ARE NOT JUVENTUS LEVEL PLAYERS…… And to only realise this and make midfield changes at the 85th minute, is ridiculous…..
Makkenie is improving really fast, but why Rabiot always on field I not understand
He thinks they played well? Atalanta could’ve easily won 3-1
Juventus dominated the game and the strikers let the team down- Vlahovic, and certainly Dybala.
I understand why fans are annoyed with Alegri for not playing Zakaria. I guess he felt he was too new to be playing in such a key game.
A 1-1 draw is not great, but give Atalanta respect. They have been a CL club in recent years. They have good players, even on their bench.
To mad: atalanta goalkeeper was hero to stop such terrorism from DV7
Geriatric ball will be on display again when they meet Villarreal.
This was a good game – even though Juve went down 1-0 i knew they would come back and tie it – i just did not expect that they would score off their first corner kick of the season to tie it ! The fact that they tied this match showed they never gave up and in the last 11 games they have 25 points! let me remind you that in the first 14 games they only had 21 points so they have showed significant improvement.