Max Allegri explains how Dusan Vlahovic has allowed Juventus to get the best out of Moise Kean and Alvaro Morata too, but reiterates they are not contenders for the Scudetto.
The Bianconeri ended their run of 1-1 draws and just about scraped the victory at the Stadio Castellani 3-2 thanks to a Moise Kean header and Dusan Vlahovic brace.
However, the Tuscans hit the underside of the crossbar late on and almost made it 3-3.
“Vlahovic is an important player, he has character as well as quality and has the kind of characteristics we didn’t have in the squad,” Allegri told DAZN.
“You could tell straight away this lad has character, wants to win and is eager to learn. He moved a lot more today, didn’t just stay central, and that was a big advantage for him and for Juventus.”
Allegri was asked if Juve play better with Vlahovic in the Number 7 jersey or the previous holder of that shirt, namely Cristiano Ronaldo?
“I don’t think you can compare them, the previous 7 won the Ballon d’Or four times, whereas Vlahovic is at the beginning of his career. A good game isn’t enough, you need immense mental strength and he is at the start of his journey.
“We knew it would be difficult, because Empoli pass it around well, they can stretch you out and they never stop, which is why at 3-1 they risked getting it back to 3-3.
“I am glad we are back to suffering when we need to suffer in order to bring home the result as a team.”
Denis Zakaria limped off with a left adductor issue and there are concerns he could be out for a while too.
“We’ve got more injuries and that means it is not really possible to rotate the squad or let someone rest. It’s never easy to win in Empoli, we need to improve our passing and some of our decisions in possession, but I liked the spirit.
“Kean struggles with his back to goal and coming back to connect with the midfield, but he does well when wide and attacking the box. Alvaro Morata is the same, he gave a great pass to Vlahovic for the third goal.
“Football is very simple, you just have to put players in roles where they can work to their characteristics. We couldn’t do that for four or five months, so we had to adapt, but we stayed in range of the top four and now we’ll see what happens.”
The win means that Juve have closed the gap from leaders Milan to just seven points and are four adrift of Inter, although the Nerazzurri have a game in hand.
Is Allegri still so very certain than Juventus are out of the Scudetto race?
“I remain fully convinced it will take 84-85 points minimum to win the Scudetto. Our objective is to finish in the top four and we need to be consistent, because there’s Atalanta, Fiorentina, Lazio are coming up too, the title will be a battle between those three up there.”
Wojciech Szczesny released a statement this morning confirming he would not play against Russia for Poland in the World Cup play-off following the invasion of Ukraine.
“All we feel is sadness at these poor families forced to flee their homes. It is always the weakest who are made to pay the heaviest price for war,” added Allegri.
Dusan Vlahovic is a goal machine 😤
Juve retake the lead against Empoli and their new star signing is settling in nicely! pic.twitter.com/kPI0LvXF2p
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) February 26, 2022
Without VC , we couldn’t win this game like first half season
But according to this same site a couple of days ago Vlahovic was wasting his career at Juventus. Are we going to see him linked to Chelsea and Tottenham now that he’s scoring again?
@Mike Agreed. This site combined with a ton of comments from hysterical ‘fans’.
Would be hilarious if Rubentus wins the title, the way the 3 chokers infront are playing it’s not unlikely.
Serie a is truly awful league these days.
@Azzkikr you do know that Juve are actually more concerned about not even making the top 4 which will be a disaster especially in trying to bring new decent players. Regarding to playing out of the chokers you implied actually only Inter shows they have the desire to win the league simply based on the performances. Also since Juve are practically playing with all they got with so much injuries then they might not even make it in the top 4 if another key player injury occurred.
Serie A is certainly better than La Liga. Sadly the premier league are miles ahead of everyone.
Good joke La Liga is still better then Serie a and I can guarantee Real Madrid would have no issues with the competition in Italy. After all they handled the best team in Italy this season and Napoli couldn’t even get the better of Barca who are no where near their old levels.
Azzkikr, it is entertaining! Very close and unpredictable. Great fun to watch.
“Awful”? Well I guess you could say the level is low when you look at how bad the Italian teams are doing in Europe. I thought Inter did okay against Pool and were a bit unlucky. Atalanta and Juve will probably last another round in Europe so who knows
Luck, weird refereeing and Vlahovic. The first two help Juve to grab a draw. Last one help Juve to win. NOT tactics. And yes Vlahovic will soon realize his career stalled at Juventus, especially with Allegri. He would spend perhaps 1 season and that’s it. Juve is not for serious players like him. He showed ambitions, Juve (Max’s Juve) is a dead meat.
Azzkikr – how does stiff competition in the top 4 make Serie A a ‘truly awful’ league? Get back to playing your playstation kid, real football is not for you.
Abdel – the usual cries of refereeing help comes from losers. There were no refereeing errors of note today, so stop trying to fabricate a different version of events to justify your envious hatred for the most successful club in Italy. So Ronaldo, Zidane, Del Piero, Platini, et. al were not serious players – time to go and sook in your little corner – we are on our way back, and for Juve, that never takes 10 years unlike other Italian clubs.
5 goals in first month with zebra kit, here is not flop, here is the real deal. Forza Juve!!! Forza DV7!!!
@Abdel, a quick question here. Did you sob when writing those trash?
@Frankie the competition is ‘stiff’ because the teams are choking, rather than due to playing good football and fighting with quality.
Stiff competition doesn’t equal quality, not even by a long shot. Serie a is the opposite of quality, even a lesser gifted individual such as yourself should be able to recognise that.
He moved a lot more today, didn’t just stay central,
Yo Happy the idea is for Dusan to stay central and you throw him the ball and the kitchen sink, it’s a numbers game you throw him 10 balls and he then tries the net 10’s and scores at least 3-4, do you understand the concept here Happy? We don’t want Dusan backtracking to collect balls in the everglades
the previous 7 won the Ballon d’Or four times
Yo Happy Ronaldo hit that award 5 x’s not 4
@Frankie Can’t you read, I put “Juve (Max’s Juve)” in there. How on earth you even go and compare Platini, ADP, Zidane’s Juve to this plastic Juve of Allegri. Allegri won’t have any idea how to use their mighty talent. Zidane would be a holding midfielder, Nedved will be a full back, ADP will warm the bench and Trez will be a winger. And “we’re on our way back”? Is that supposed to be a joke? Empoli play better and owns you last night, did you even watch the game? Or Villareal’s? All I see is individual brilliance of DV but no progress whatsoever in allegri’s approach to the game with all talents he posses.
@El Cid I wonder why you only shows up when juve win.
to both of you girls: I am not sobbing, as your Juve won’t win anything this season.