Juventus captain Gianluigi Buffon has praised Coach Massimiliano Allegri’s ‘outstanding tactical knowledge’ ahead of Saturday’s Champions League final.
The Old Lady will face Barcelona in Berlin this weekend for European football’s biggest prize and the goalkeeper praised Allegri and Carlos Tevez for their contribution to an outstanding season.
Juventus captain Gianluigi Buffon has praised Coach Massimiliano Allegri’s ‘outstanding tactical knowledge’ ahead of Saturday’s Champions League final.
The Old Lady will face Barcelona in Berlin this weekend for European football’s biggest prize and the goalkeeper praised Allegri and Carlos Tevez for their contribution to an outstanding season.
“What has impressed me most is Allegri’s great intelligence in terms of settling in with the squad and trying to find out not just our technical qualities but also the mentality and morale of the whole team and each individual player,” Buffon said to UEFA.com.
“By doing this I think he has integrated very well. So he was really very intelligent in this way – and really good.
“His tactical knowledge is outstanding – after years of playing a certain system, he managed to get us to try alternatives and to perform even better.
“Even so, he has not tried to completely change how we've played because in some situations or matches we have returned to how we played before.
“So I think this is his biggest achievement. He didn't try to enter the club and change everything, but to make changes step by step based on our needs and the situations encountered.”
Carlos Tevez has been in sensational form for the Bianconeri this season, contributing 29 goals in all competitions, and Buffon singled him out for praise.
“Carlos is a player we didn't know and I didn't really know before,” he said.
“But these last two years he has really been an unbelievable surprise because he managed to integrate into the team right away and adapted immediately to our way of working and training.
“It is certainly different to English football and also different to the Argentinian mentality. It was something he had to deal with, but he immediately began working hard to try to understand what was being demanded of him.
“Now he knows perfectly what he has to do to help the team and to help his team-mates. He understands at every moment of a match when he has to help out, when he has to make an extra run, when he perhaps needs to commit a foul, or when he has to keep the ball.
“He is a really hard worker and just a great man. I am very happy to play alongside him and to have met him.”