Max Allegri hails Juventus for ‘being afraid of conceding a goal’ in the narrow win over Roma, reiterating this gets them closer to Champions League qualification rather than the Scudetto.
There was an opportunity to close on leaders Inter after the 1-1 draw in Genoa last night and the Bianconeri took it, securing the 1-0 victory over Roma thanks to an Adrien Rabiot strike on the Dusan Vlahovic back-heel flick.
As is tradition, the Old Lady clung on under pressure to win in Allegri’s famous ‘corto muso’ (by a nose) style, as they have won 12 Serie A matches by a scoreline of 1-0 in 2023.
“It was a good game, because playing against Roma is never easy, especially when Jose Mourinho is on the opposition bench,” Allegri told DAZN.
“We ran risks in the first half with a few Paulo Dybala balls that went into the box, but remained solid. We scored after the restart and could’ve had a second goal.
“It was important to win, especially as we continue to break away from the teams behind us. Once it comes to January 7, we’ll see how many points we racked up in the first half of the season.”
This result puts Juve just two points off leaders Inter, so they could still be crowned Winter Champions, as the season reaches the midway stage in the next round.
That will see Juve visit Salernitana and Inter host Hellas Verona on the weekend of January 7.
“At this moment, I think we are in good shape physically, the last three days of training were good too and we had some impressive passing moves today. We gave the ball away a bit too often and need to work on that, but above all on the diagonal passes and how to play out from the back,” added Allegri.
“The best thing is that after conceding straight after taking the lead, see against Frosinone and Genoa, the team has returned to being afraid of conceding a goal. When you are afraid of conceding a goal, you defend with greater concentration.”
Vlahovic seems to be improving and his confidence is growing too, as seen by the attempted acrobatic bicycle-kick.
“His last few games have been good, it was again an improvement this evening because he is in better shape physically. He can only get stronger, he can play alone or with a second striker. Yildiz is less of a striker than Chiesa, he is more about the vertical passes and less the counter-attacks.”
Inter defender Francesco Acerbi said yesterday after the 1-1 draw with Genoa that Juventus should be considered the favourites for the Scudetto, seeing as they spent more on the transfer market in recent years.
“I do not comment on Acerbi’s statements. Inter are two points above us right now, they are having an extraordinary season with 45 points, we try to stay up there near them, aware that we have a different journey to them,” replied Allegri.
“Just look at the average ages of the squads, we have many young players who are just starting their journey. We are satisfied with what we are doing, without looking at others.”
The coach is also not dropping any hints for the January transfer window, even with Paul Pogba and Nicolò Fagioli facing long-term bans.
“The only way we can improve our squad is by working in training. We have young talents who are growing rapidly and the next I hope we’ll see in the senior squad is Joseph Nonge, who needs to be straightened out a little bit, but certainly knows how to play football.”
Finally, Allegri was asked which of these three things will happen in 2024: Juve win the Scudetto, Allegri starts the next season at Juventus, or the Bianconeri are back in the Champions League.
“Juve back in the Champions League. In fact, this was a very important result, because we pushed Roma and the others in the chasing pack further behind us, so we have consolidated that advantage and are closer to mathematically securing Champions League qualification.”
#Juventus, #Allegri: "Presto vedremo #Nonge che sta crescendo"https://t.co/X8ngwYTfBb
— Gianluca Di Marzio (@DiMarzio) December 30, 2023