Max Allegri warns Juventus ‘have to accept the reality’ that they are currently not better than Verona and have to regain their humility to ‘battle’ for every point.
The Bianconeri suffered another surprising 2-1 defeat, this time at Hellas Verona after the midweek loss to Sassuolo, picking up one point from the last three rounds.
They were already 13 points off the leaders going into this weekend and have now been caught on 15 points by Verona, who have a superior goal difference to the Old Lady.
“Words are meaningless right now. We’re in a bad situation, we have to accept the reality that right now we are a mid-table team. We can get out of this situation with a little more determination and quality,” Allegri told DAZN.
“We will drag ourselves out of this situation. There’s no point feeling sorry for ourselves, that won’t help, we just need to focus on what we need to do and then things will sort themselves out.”
Juventus have conceded 15 goals after 11 rounds, their worst tally since 1961-62, and scored only 15 with 15 points earned.
“It’s a good squad, but things don’t always go your way in football. We have to react with pride and determination. We had to play like a team that had one point, and we did, now we have to play like a team that has 15 points.
“We realised Verona were going to make it physical and a battle for every ball, so if you don’t meet them at that level, you will lose.
“Wearing the Juventus jersey does not give us a guarantee we must beat the teams in mid-table. We have to earn every point and do it with the right attitude.
“Football is football, it is not fencing. You need to fight it out on the pitch at the same level. We lost a lot of tackles and aerial duels against Sassuolo too, and they are frankly not a very physical side.
“Verona knew that was how they had to play in order to beat Juventus. Our mistake was assuming we were better than Verona, and right now we are not. We must be realistic.”
Allegri hit hard on the issue of humility and arrogance, seeing his team take too much for granted after a series of 1-0 wins.
“There is no big team that has ever won without respecting their opponents. We are lacking that desire to fight it out, because games are a battle.
“There’s nothing we can say now, we just need to stay silent and work hard to prove ourselves on the pitch. Scudetto? Well today was almost the final step for that.”
Allegri’s frustration on the touchline was evident, especially as in the final minutes he took off his coat and threw it to the ground, an image famously seen against Carpi many years ago.
“It’s not motivational, it’s just that the first chance we concede, the ball goes in. That’s not a coincidence, it’s about the attitude and we need to get back to the attitude we had earlier in the season.
“At this moment, everything looks negative, but we must be clear-headed, analyse what’s working and what isn’t, see who is more or less tired and can help out.”