Max Allegri said Juventus have “absolutely not” won the Scudetto after beating Sassuolo and replied to Antonio Conte.
The Bianconeri moved 11 points clear of Roma, but only squeezed past Sassuolo with a late Paul Pogba goal.
“Sassuolo worked hard and pressed us in the first half, but we were also too determined to go through the middle,” Allegri told Sky Sport Italia.
Max Allegri said Juventus have “absolutely not” won the Scudetto after beating Sassuolo and replied to Antonio Conte.
The Bianconeri moved 11 points clear of Roma, but only squeezed past Sassuolo with a late Paul Pogba goal.
“Sassuolo worked hard and pressed us in the first half, but we were also too determined to go through the middle,” Allegri told Sky Sport Italia.
“As time went on, we moved the ball around quicker and played with greater intensity. I like 1-0 wins, as they keep you on your toes and tactically I thought the lads did well.”
At a certain stage Allegri introduced Simone Pepe and moved to a 4-4-2 system.
“I was trying to open up the play, especially with Pepe who is excellent on crosses for Fernando Llorente. On the other side, Pogba could give more width with Carlos Tevez and then move into the box.
“The lads did pretty well, though in some circumstances we were too hasty and the midfielders wandered around, leaving few reference points for our defenders.
“Alvaro Morata is good at being a centre-forward, but today went a bit too wide and was hardly ever in the box tonight. He did good things, but outside the penalty area.”
Has the Coach ever thought about placing Pogba behind the strikers rather that Arturo Vidal or Roberto Pereyra?
“I think he’d struggle there, but I could be wrong. He has these long legs and needs a bit of space to get running, so there’s a lot of traffic in that area.
“For example, with no space between the lines, Pereyra struggled in that position this evening.”
Allegri denied suggestions Juventus are struggling for fitness levels and sharpness at this stage of the season.
“From the statistics, the team always ends the game improving in the last 15 minutes. Many players have been used a lot, unfortunately injuries forced me to use the same defenders early in the season and now the same midfielders.
“Pepe has been fully recovered, so he is another important alternative we’ve got, especially when we need to spread the play.
“We’ve lost Martin Caceres, but Andrea Barzagli returned tonight. We’ll get there, a bit at a time.”
Italy Coach Antonio Conte joked with reporters today that if Juve had his ‘grit’ then “they’d be 20 points clear” at the top rather than 11.
Some took this to be egotistical from the former Bianconeri boss, others pointed out his jokey tone. Allegri seemed unimpressed.
“I want to talk about the Juventus of this year and I don’t like comparisons. For all the players and fans, the important thing is to achieve our objectives.
“Even if we got the bad result against Fiorentina, which was a decent performance despite everyone leaping on us to criticise, we did have the chances to equalise.”
With an 11-point lead over Roma, is the Scudetto now under lock and key?
“Absolutely not. There’s a long way to go, we need to be calm and balanced, there’s no rush. We have a series of games coming up in Serie A, the Champions League and Coppa Italia.
“The Scudetto is the primary objective, the Champions League is a dream and in the Coppa Italia we’ll see if we can be good enough to turn it around.”