Massimiliano Allegri suggested that Juventus’ fast-approaching battle with Napoli will be particularly difficult for sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli, who switched clubs in the summer.
Giuntoli earned praise for his eight-year spell as the Partenopei’s sporting director, picking up a number of key stars at the club like Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Victor Osimhen and Giovanni Di Lorenzo. He left Napoli at the start of the summer and joined up with Juventus, showing their new direction.
Juventus are looking to maintain the pressure on league leaders Inter and will be desperate to secure all three points in their clash with Napoli this evening. The defending champions are still in the early stages of Walter Mazzarri’s reign and are hungry to start making up for lost ground.
Speaking to DAZN via TMW, Allegri was first asked about Juventus’ two losses to Napoli last season.
“I’m not thinking about the two games of last season, because it’s a different year. This year we started differently, and we know that we are facing a strong Napoli.”
He was also asked if he’s noticed Mazzarri’s impact at Napoli yet.
“No. It’s still too early, then Napoli have a structure of players who, regardless of how they play, have a lot of quality.”
The Juventus coach commented on Aurelio De Laurentiis’ decision to bring back Mazzarri.
“I don’t know. The president will have chosen the best coach for him at this moment and for Napoli.”
Allegri spoke about if the win over Napoli would be key for taking them out of the title race.
“It’s still too early to say, there are so many points up for grabs. I believe that at this moment, we need to think about playing a good match and bringing home a positive result. Because it would allow us to either maintain or lose them from us.”
He touched on what the match means for Giuntoli.
“I saw him very calm. It’s certainly not a match like the others for him because in any case after eight years in Naples it won’t be easy for him. But I saw him quite calm.”
The Juventus coach discussed the importance of head-to-head matches in the race for the Scudetto.
“They matter at the moment, but the numbers say that the bottom 12 in the table, compared to the top eight, have scored 17 points more than last year.”
He gave his thoughts on Gleison Bremer.
“He has grown a lot, and it’s normal after a year at Juventus. He has grown in character and confidence and still has frightening room for growth.”
Finally, Allegri confirmed Dusan Vlahovic is still the main penalty taker.
“He always took penalties, he missed them, he took them. Then we will have to see the moment of the match and we will decide.”