Max Allegri used the fightback to beat Cagliari 2-1 in order to defend Juventus performances in losses to Inter and Villarreal. ‘Everyone praised our performance, after conceding it was called a disaster!’
The Bianconeri were in dire need of a boost after the home defeat to Inter ruled them out of the Scudetto race, so it was the worst possible start when going a goal down to Joao Pedro’s counter-attack.
However, a Matthijs de Ligt header from a corner and Dusan Vlahovic meeting a Paulo Dybala through ball turned it around for a 2-1 result in Sardinia.
Serie A | Cagliari 1-2 Juventus: Vlahovic turnaround in Sardinia
“I don’t like losing, so I prefer criticism when we play badly, but still win. Nobody remembers the performance last Sunday, they only remember Inter marching towards the Scudetto, not how anybody played,” Allegri told Sky Sport Italia.
“You never know, they might transform tonight’s game too. The comical thing is that you in the media are always going on about beautiful football, but are also the first to focus only on the result!
“I was told that until the 75th minute against Villarreal, all the websites and social media were praising the Juventus performance. Once we conceded, Juventus were called a disaster.
“That doesn’t make sense. The performance remains the same, the only thing that changed was the result. I enjoy myself hearing the criticism, but every now and then some go a bit over the top and that irritates me.
“It’s not just about us, but football in general. I hope in future years people will return to talking about the ABC of football, like the first touch, shaking off your marker, etc. Italy won the World Cup four times, we have our style, but for 15 years we’ve been chasing after Pep Guardiola’s style and didn’t realise he’s changed as well.”
There was also a goal disallowed because Luca Pellegrini’s effort was deflected in off Adrien Rabiot’s elbow, which when directly leading to a goal is considered handball regardless of intention or having the arm in a natural position.
Dybala was about to be substituted by Moise Kean, but then delayed it by a good 20 minutes, during which La Joya set up Vlahovic’s winner.
“He made a few vital contributions, including the assist. If the game had more of a tempo, he would’ve struggled with the intensity, but he grew over the course of the game.
“I am in love with players who have a great touch, who control the ball well. I am old-fashioned that way and think we need to teach that more in the youth academies.
“Why did I delay the change? I am lucky too, you know.”
The question marks were nonetheless raised because Dybala has not been offered a new contract by Juventus and will be released as a free agent.
“It ends because there are stories that begin and end. It happens between men and women, it happens between clubs and coaches or players.
“This is part of life. The club was clear, we evaluate everything together, so this decision was made. On the other hand, Paulo is working very hard, he had a lot of injuries and is not yet the Dybala we know, so he can give a lot more in the final weeks.
“He is proving himself to be an excellent professional, just like the other players who will or won’t renew their contracts.”
Allegri had said before this match that he expected a terrible game and a tough test for Juventus, so was he trying to stave off a potential psychological collapse?
“We lost a head-to-head with Inter that would’ve allowed us to have Scudetto ambitions. We need to be realistic. I continue to maintain Inter are the favourites, especially with their fixture list.
“Naturally, it’s going to shake a team when you chase down the light at the end of the tunnel for 16 games and then it vanishes. That is why this was a very risky match, especially with players injured and suspended.
“We needed to win this evening to consolidate fourth place, reaching the final two rounds with a good advantage.”
Juventus’ newest superhero is back again 🦸🏻♂️
Vlahović puts them in front! pic.twitter.com/NzMoQVgW7X
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) April 9, 2022
That is why Juventus pay PhD Max the big bucks. He expected a bad game and check he got the bad game he predicted as he is a pathetic coach. Riding off those 5 Scudetti when there was no competition and I forgot those 2 CL finals which some fans think was a victory, when in fact they got whooped on those finals. I will give him some respect when he has the cojones to coach in Spain or England but he knew the gig would be up.
I’d say 5 scudetti and 2 champions league finals is pretty successful considering his budget
Silence, haters. 3 points in the bag. If you actually watched the game, you’d see that Juve attacked continuously all game.
If you also watched those finals, you’d know that Juve dumped both Real and Barca out of the CL in alternating seasons so over two legs, we emerged victorious. It didn’t happen in the final, unfortunately, because things are decided by incidents. Those were strong Juve teams and Allegri set them up correctly. And if those 5 seasons had no competition, whose fault is that? If others built winning cycles like Juve, they’d also be up there. Instead, they win one year and then crash and burn for a decade.
@patron Saint – 2 CL finals and 5 titles plus all the cups is called success in anyone’s mind except a staunch Inter supporter. And if EPL success is anything to go by, just think that Ranieri won it comfortably with a mediocre team. And all Italian managers go there and clean up. It’s not that hard with those budgets. Same with Spain. Ancelotti is about to clean up again without breaking sweat…doesn’t mean anything.
@fatecispgnare … I agree with patron. Allegri should be executed immediately. He has no business being a coach.
@MG And that’s why he has the job and you have PS5
of course, it was a disaster.
with that performance, what do you want to be recognized?
Nah the Lord is correct on this one. It is what you do in finals that count. Knocking out teams in the Quarters and Semi finals does not translate into winning the cup itself. Allegri even nearly blew the Scudetto in 2/5 of those seasons. Fiorentina bailed him out and any decent coach could have won and done it in better fashion. He calls out Guardiola but ironically admits even he changes. Sadly but true Allegri has never changed and cannot. He is a one trick pony with no ideas. Sorry he has the christmas tree but even that decayed and nobody uses it. People copy Guardiola and Klopp. Nobody copies Allegri and sums it up. If he was that good, why do none of the elite coaches adopt his style?
ha ha ha @NOrata you lost 4-1 in Cardiff. What incidents? You got royally thrashed and you forgot the greatest goal Ronaldo ever scored. He hated playing for you but loved scoring against you lol.
Barcelona did the job 3-1 with ease fair and square so again what incidents?
Plz when is Zidane coming to Juve…i am tired of Allegri playing style always causing injuries to his players..
dt correction Simeone copied Allegri or was it the other way round😂
Its never cease to amaze me that these allegri apologists still stuck in the past but it somehow explain their characteristics of being backward. As your little tiny finals are important. You are getting slain at those finals. Heavily.
Its never cease to amaze me that these allegri apologists still stuck in the past but it somehow explain their characteristics of being backward. As your little tiny finals are important. You are getting destroyed at those finals. Heavily.
“@MG And that’s why he has the job and you have PS5”
Priceless comment, says everything about these keyboard-warriors.
Allegri led them to 2 CL finals. His comments about individual skill, and the slavish copying of Guardiola are spot on.
For 5 seasons starting in 2013 and ending in 2018, Barca/Real won every CL. Allegri was the most successful coach in Europe in that era outside those two, which were super clubs at the time with all star teams.
He was the only coach to stop not one but both of those juggernauts with tactical intelligence and pragmatism.
He is absolutely right about Italian football. If you want pinball football, go watch the Prem.
5 scudetto and 2 CL finals when you had buffon chieilini bonucci pirlo vidal dybala etc all in their prime after being well drilled by Conte, while all other teams in Serie A have one of the darkest period in their history – to be expected if you ask me.
You have to love the ardent support of the Allegri loyalists. The same fans who chanted “Sarri Out”, and “Pirlo Out” now only talk about the past and forget the present and future. Agnelli wanted to go back to the medieval times and it seems some fans yearn for it as well. Pirlo had the same squad, no experience and somehow got 2 trophies. Allegri who has been billed as a footballing genius has less points, more bad experience and less goals per game then the previous 2. Now they will say he needs time and players. He got Vlahovic and Zakaria and I bet if you gave him the Manchester City squad he would make Mahrez play as a make shift defender.
@ Chris J
In the Real final, Juve capitulated in the second half after a lucky deviated goal for Real’s second. That was a fluke but it stretched and exposed Juve. Against Barca, who incidentally have been called the best Barca of all time, Juve were right in it and had a strong penalty appeal denied which could have made it 2-1. Might have still be a win for Barca but these are incidents that psychologically influence the game. Now, given that Juve got to those finals when EPL teams, Bayern and PSG didn’t, speaks volumes. And in those years, how many times have Man City or PSG won it? Despite tikitaka, how many times did Barca win the CL??
@Fate this is the problem with Juventus fans always looking to the past as @tony mentioned today. Football is like that and you have to take your chances which Juventus cannot even make these days. Adopting a Serie a style approach will never work in Europe. Allegri has not learnt anything and I cannot blame him as he is a one trick pony. Also look at other Italian teams in Europe and it is the same end result. Ajax had a bunch of kids but played a high pressing tempo game which Juve cannot cope with. When you look at the last 4 teams Juve have been knocked out by luck has nothing to do with it. Fact of the matter is they are not an elite European team and their results since 96 speaks volumes. They were dominant in Italy, but learnt nothing from their mistakes in Europe and choking at pivotal moments is in their culture.
@Chris – Always looking at the past when the past was just 2 seasons ago is a ridiculous comment. Look at Man Utd, 21 points from the top and still considered a successful club, why? Because the British media isn’t as hysterical as that in Italy. The present is obvious…restructuring is taking place. Most teams in Europe would trade immediately what they have to have the structures that Juve has.
Regarding approaches in Europe…Villareal actually took a catenaccio approach against Juve. Just closed ranks and hoped for a counter over 2 legs. Juve missed several scoring opportunities otherwise that tactic wouldn’t have worked. Simeone only plays catenaccio. This isn’t current Serie A tactics, this is tactics from the 1960s Italy. Note also that Villareal just beat Bayern with the same approach, so are you saying that Bayern aren’t good enough for the CL? Are you saying that the attacking play of Neymar, Mbappe and Messi is what’s needed to win it? Because those guys are firmly in Paris right now. In knockout tournaments, anything can happen…go ask City who’ve got Pep and are still without the cup. Or Barca who’ve won it twice through their entire golden era.
@Fatecisognare,
Barca won it 3 times through their golden generation: 2009, 2011, 2015, and reached 3 semi-finals. And I’m not even counting the Frank Rijkaard era from 2004-2008, which provided the back-bone (Messi, Xavi, Ineista, Puyol) for the next era.
They are a prime example why attacking football is what succeeds in Europe.
You are picking tidbits of examples to justify defensive football success in Europe, but the reality is attacking football is what consistently pays. Recent history shows: Liverpool, Chelsea, Bayern, Real, Barcelona, etc.
I will even include the likes of Atalanta with Gasperini and Ajax with Erik ten Hag, as teams with little budgets and smaller capacities being able to compete thanks to their positive style.
Atalanta play nice football but please don’t shine them as an example of a competitive team. They’re unbalanced. And as for Barca, ok they got 3 but the last was 8 years ago. They still attack, attack, attack. Chelsea were incredibly fortunate to win it last year and in 2011, and they’re hardly a great example given how much they’ve spent to try to buy it. Real Madrid are the only team who’ve been geared up to win the CL, ploughing all their resources into it. You see how many seasons they went without winning the league as an example of where their priorities lay.
And I’m not saying defensive football is the best at all. I’m saying that team which are balanced go much further than purely attacking ones. Even those attacking teams you list, have had to rely on excellent defences. Also note that Italian managers are cleaning up in the Prem so it’s about tactical awareness and not just all out attack.
Are you guys honestly saying that if Allegri played more offensively, this Juve team could win the CL? Not a chance. Their midfield is abysmal and only now with Vlahovic do they have a good striker. Dybala, 10+ mill for 7 goals a season. Bayern have Lewa who scores that in 3 games. In Serie A, they’re ok because everyone else is poor. Inter are having a good season and they’re only 1 or 2 wins in front. They have no chance at Euro glory either. Lots of investment needed in Italy. Any tactician would struggle (see Mourinho).