Max Allegri admits Juventus “must play better” and joked going down to 10 men was the kick they needed against Olympique Lyonnais.
The Bianconeri snatched a 1-0 Champions League victory in France with Juan Cuadrado’s late stunner after Gigi Buffon saved an Alexandre Lacazette penalty and Mario Lemina was sent off.
Max Allegri admits Juventus “must play better” and joked going down to 10 men was the kick they needed against Olympique Lyonnais.
The Bianconeri snatched a 1-0 Champions League victory in France with Juan Cuadrado’s late stunner after Gigi Buffon saved an Alexandre Lacazette penalty and Mario Lemina was sent off.
“We weren’t moving the ball around properly and so the referee decided to give us a kick and force us into it by reducing us to 10 men,” joked the Coach on Mediaset Premium.
“Unfortunately, this is one of our limitations.”
Allegri was asked about his surprise picks, above all Patrice Evra in a three-man defence rather than Medhi Benatia.
“I chose Evra because Benatia was not supposed to play on Saturday and did after 40 days out. I didn’t want to risk him suffering a relapse. Evra can do well there, he’s a natural left-footer and is useful for us.
“I used Cuadrado on the left on Saturday and he did pretty well. If I’d have started Cuadrado today, I wouldn’t have had some fresh legs to bring on, so substitutes are always important.
“We suffered a lot in the first half on the counter, Lacazette and (Nabil) Fekir were good at stretching our defence, while we lost the ball too many times with short passes. It went better after the break, even down to 10 men.”
Lacazette was about to give Lyon the lead in the first half, but captain Buffon saved the penalty.
“Fortunately Buffon saved us at that moment. We must try to play better, be relaxed and not too hasty in our passing, as when Lyon sit back like that, you need patience. The same thing happened against Udinese, as we ran some risks there too.
“We do have to play better in so many areas, including running off the ball. If we don’t run as much as Milan this weekend, we’re going to be in trouble.”
Juve do seem close to qualification, as they are joint top of the group with Sevilla on seven points, already four in front of Lyon.