Juventus coach Max Allegri congratulates 18-year-old Fabio Miretti on his full debut against Venezia, while looking at the ‘positive’ side of Champions League elimination to Villarreal.
The Bianconeri have practically secured their Champions League qualification for next season with this hard-fought 2-1 win over rock bottom Venezia.
It took a pair of Leonardo Bonucci goals, bundling over the line from close range on knocked-down set plays, to cancel out the Mattia Aramu scorcher.
“It was a good start to the game, a series of shots on goal and we took the lead, but then we got a bit too deep, still creating chances to double our lead,” Allegri told Sky Sport Italia.
“After the break, the goal was in the air for Venezia and they did really well. We were fortunate to score the second goal straight away.
“You can talk about tactics, we could do better, but the fact remains it’s been the same players in every game for three months now and we have to take this as a good result.”
Fabio Miretti had an impressive first start for the senior squad at the age of 18 in midfield.
“Fabio had a good game, he knows how to play football, so it’s easier for him. He always tries to pass it forward, which is a good sign, he played with good character and I am very pleased that the team looked to him today. I thank the Juventus academy that raised him over the last eight years.
“It’s rare that a lad who is raised in the youth academy then makes it to the senior squad, that is just statistics, I saw it at Milan first and then Juventus.
“I don’t know if we’ll see other youth players this season, but it’s natural at this age you see them one day and they seem like champions, you see them another and they seem hopeless. Everyone has a different journey, we already have players in the squad who need to gain experience and need to find that balance.
“Some young players need more calm on the ball, but Miretti already seems to have that.”
Allegri said in his press conference that he was annoyed at not challenging for the Scudetto this season.
“There’s no point going back over the Cristiano Ronaldo exit, but we also lost a lot of players to traumatic injuries and that was damaging. Reflecting after the game, if we are in this position, it’s not that bad. If we had beaten Villarreal and reached the Champions League quarter-final, we might’ve used up energy needed to retain fourth place in Serie A. So let’s look at the positives.”