Max Allegri explained the changes he made as Juventus beat Empoli 2-0, won’t rule out Roma or Napoli for the Scudetto, but “our destiny is in our hands.”
The Bianconeri had to wait until the second half to break down Empoli with Mario Mandzukic – aided by deflection off Lukasz Skorupski – and Alex Sandro.
Max Allegri explained the changes he made as Juventus beat Empoli 2-0, won’t rule out Roma or Napoli for the Scudetto, but “our destiny is in our hands.”
The Bianconeri had to wait until the second half to break down Empoli with Mario Mandzukic – aided by deflection off Lukasz Skorupski – and Alex Sandro.
“It wasn’t an easy game, as we’re in a packed fixture list and coming off a Champions League trip to Porto,” the Coach told Sky Sport Italia and Mediaset Premium.
“The lads did very well this evening. Empoli are, among the teams lower down the table, the side who pass it around the most and that can be frustrating.
“We stepped up a gear after the break, scored two goals and could’ve had more. We really regret conceding that goal against Palermo, otherwise it would’ve been seven straight clean sheets.
“Napoli can still be in it, but the fact remains we have to focus only on ourselves and realise our destiny is in our own hands.
“It will be tough against Napoli in the Coppa Italia semi-final on Wednesday and we’ll have to make some more changes to ensure the fitness levels are still good enough.
“Mandzukic guarantees physicality as well as technique, above all he’s valuable on set plays. Paulo Dybala had played a lot of games, we have another on Wednesday, so I preferred to rest him and give us more strength with Stefano Sturaro.”
Leonardo Bonucci was brought back into the team after he was dropped for the Champions League against Porto due to their touchline row in the closing minutes of last Friday’s win over Palermo.
“There are some things a Coach needs to let slide, others that he has to focus on. The most important thing is to keep a cool head and make the right choices at the right time. If you let your emotions take over, it leads to mistakes.
“Bonucci came back well, put in a good performance and the case is closed. There are moments during a season when you discuss and debate things, it’s just unfortunately the whole world saw us and it might’ve been different if it had happened in the locker room.
“We have a group of great professionals and above all great men. Between us, we managed to give the side a shake-up it needed to stay focused against Porto.
“I have five strong centre-backs and can rest them when needed.”
Tomorrow night Inter and Roma go head-to-head, so will Allegri be watching?
“Of course I will. We still need to play Roma this season and it’ll do us good to see how they play. It’d be nice if Roma didn’t win, but the important thing is that we won tonight. Our destiny is in our hands.”