Max Allegri confesses he was aiming for a draw against Sassuolo and had no intention of ‘committing football suicide’ with a depleted Juventus. ‘We cannot try to do what we can’t do right now.’
The Bianconeri were decimated at the Mapei Stadium, with Juan Cuadrado and Matthijs de Ligt joining the growing absentee list.
It did not bode well when they went a goal down to Giacomo Raspadori’s strike, but a Paulo Dybala screamer and Moise Kean late on nutmegging Andrea Consigli turned it around.
This 2-1 away victory puts Juve within a point of third-placed Napoli and creates an eight-point buffer from Roma in fifth, so it will take something remarkable now to lose their Champions League spot.
Serie A | Sassuolo 1-2 Juventus: Dybala and Kean close on third place
“It was an important victory for the table. Sassuolo played very well, we clung in there, although we were a bit too sluggish in the first half and they were able to pierce through us easily,” Allegri told Sky Sport Italia.
“We did better after the break and were missing a few players, there was fatigue after the Coppa Italia game midweek, so we can only thank the lads.
“It’s a good advantage over fifth place, we are a point off Napoli, so we have to keep working for the objective, which is fourth place.”
Sassuolo had 64% possession and 22 attempts to 10, seven to five on target, and Allegri practically confessed he had been aiming for a stalemate at the Mapei Stadium.
“With four rounds left in the season, you have to win the games. The rest does not count for anything. Above all, people need to understand the moment we are going through. We cannot try to do what we can’t do right now, we have to focus on doing what we can do.
“The team played the game it needed to play, knowing Sassuolo were fresh, have good technique. We also lost De Ligt and Cuadrado, the last substitute was Miretti, so we just had to get the points.”
What is it that Juve cannot not do right now, in Allegri’s opinion?
“Our two creative midfielders, Arthur and Locatelli, are out of action. We’ve been without McKennie for three months, without Chiesa for six months. It’s the same players all the time, I had to try to reshuffle the pack to try to put a team out with Danilo in midfield.
“I was trying to bring home a draw, because a draw would’ve been an important result here. There are moments when the team is in good form and when it’s not. I don’t like the idea of committing football suicide.
“We are tired, it was not easy to get a result here.”
Allegri famously complained the initial difficulties this term were due to losing Cristiano Ronaldo at the last moment, so how has the squad developed since then?
“The team has improved a great deal over the season. I was very angry tonight, as in the final minutes we should’ve controlled the ball better and taken the result home, but there were young lads who don’t have the experience and don’t understand it yet. We need them to learn quickly.
“We played many months without important players who do a lot of running, like Chiesa, McKennie, Arthur, while Danilo was out for three months too.
“We need to keep working, bringing in two or three players that we need, but we don’t need to scrap everything and start again.”