Max Allegri thanks Mattia Perin and substitute Angel Di Maria for allowing a far from sparkling Juventus to secure a 2-0 victory away to Spezia. ‘Football is strange.’
The Bianconeri were clinical at the Stadio Picco, winning 2-0 with goals from Moise Kean and Di Maria, despite having only 41 per cent possession and three shots on target to Spezia’s seven.
Goalkeeper Perin, standing in for Wojciech Szczesny, also made his contribution with a couple of fine saves on Emmanuel Gyasi and Dimitrios Nikolaou.
“It was a bad first half, we started better after the break and could’ve had another goal with Kean. When Angel came on, clearly he has such quality and experience that it makes everyone feel calm,” Allegri told DAZN.
“Football is strange, as paradoxically we had more shots on our goal tonight than from Nantes and we must congratulate Perin for his performance, especially the extraordinary one on Gyasi.
“We have now amassed 47 points and must continue along this path, rising to 32 in the table and catching seventh place.”
It was another clean sheet for the Bianconeri in Serie A, but they didn’t create many scoring opportunities with Dusan Vlahovic and Kean.
“All teams have struggled against Spezia, but again strangely thought we played better in the second half, we allowed them more chances. Perhaps there was some fatigue, some misplaced passes.
“It was the first time we had Vlahovic and Kean starting together, so they needed to get the rhythm right on who had to attack the space and who had to make the other run.”
Spezia sacked Luca Gotti on Wednesday and have not yet appointed a replacement, so his staff were in charge as caretakers today awaiting Leonardo Semplici.
“We did not expect Spezia to play with four at the back, so that was a surprise. Once again, we needed more calm on the ball, as at times we can be a bit ‘hysterical’ in possession and that is where Di Maria is different.
“Have you ever seen champions who are agitated or hysterical with the ball at their feet? I haven’t and I’ve trained a fair few. That calm comes with experience and quality.”
Even with the 15-point penalty, Juventus are still in seventh place, on level terms with Bologna, awaiting Torino’s game against rock bottom Cremonese on Monday evening.
A win there would enable the Granata to leapfrog their city rivals just days before the Derby della Mole.
Juventus will now begin to prepare for Thursday’s second leg of the Europa League play-off against FC Nantes, having been held 1-1 in Turin.
“We know that we have a good chance of getting through to the next round, but also know it won’t be easy.”