Max Allegri admits Juventus “must play better” against Tottenham Hotspur than they did at Fiorentina and claims “there was a foul” before the VAR controversy.
Goals from Federico Bernardeschi and Gonzalo Higuain fired Juve to a 2-0 win on Friday, but it came at the cost of a Fiorentina penalty being reversed by VAR, amidst a lack of clarity over whether the decision was an offside call or foul on Alex Sandro.
“It wasn’t easy to stay focused. We have to congratulate the lads and Fiorentina,” the Coach told Premium Sport.
Max Allegri admits Juventus “must play better” against Tottenham Hotspur than they did at Fiorentina and claims “there was a foul” before the VAR controversy.
Goals from Federico Bernardeschi and Gonzalo Higuain fired Juve to a 2-0 win on Friday, but it came at the cost of a Fiorentina penalty being reversed by VAR, amidst a lack of clarity over whether the decision was an offside call or foul on Alex Sandro.
“It wasn’t easy to stay focused. We have to congratulate the lads and Fiorentina,” the Coach told Premium Sport.
“We started well, but they applied pressure. We played too much on the lines and helped them.
“We risked [conceding] a couple of times and had to end the first half without any damage. The second half was different.
“Matches aren’t all the same. There can be moments of fogginess. The team did well, Dias hitting the post came from a breakaway, where we went wrong.
“In the second half, we didn’t suffer too much. We knew the difficulties we’d face, they’re a young team with good qualities.
“Juventus, when [Fiorentina] began to defend, played in the right way. I must congratulate our lads for what they’re doing.
“We have Napoli, who are behind us, but we mustn’t lose track of the difficulties.
“Costa? I’d say that we found numerical superiority in the middle after he came on. Players like him let you play on an open field.
“The penalty? I was just waiting for the referee’s decision, it's him who decides and it’s happened on other occasions.
“It was a long way, but luckily the penalty was annulled. After that, we started to defend better
“Did I understand the referee’s decision? It wasn’t clear, I thought there was a foul before it. [Officials] are much more careful with TV images. I only know that I was there waiting.
“Bernardeschi key against Tottenham? We’ll see, we have to recover first. Going through would be nice, but we have to be careful.
“[Spurs] have excellent technique, but Champions League games are tight. We must play better.
“When will Dybala return? Paulo’s working in a different way to the squad, but we hope he’ll be available.
“It’s very difficult. I can’t take risks with him as he’s a very important player and we need him in the best condition.
“We have four players out, but we can’t rush them back and and then lose them even longer.”