Former Juventus defender Andrea Barzagli reveals the ‘greatest strength’ of Max Allegri ahead of the Turin Derby and explains why all the Scudetto favourites are ‘playing hide and seek.’
The showdown with local rivals Torino kicks off at the Allianz Juventus Stadium at 17.00 UK time (16.00 GMT).
The Bianconeri will be without injured Dusan Vlahovic and Federico Chiesa, while Arkadiusz Milik is likely only fit enough for the bench, so Moise Kean is expected to have support from Fabio Miretti in a more advanced trequartista role.
“Losing Chiesa and Vlahovic takes a lot from Juve, but Allegri’s greatest strength is that he always remains positive, especially during difficult moments, and that can often make the difference,” Barzagli told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“I had my doubts about moving Chiesa to more of a pure striker role at first, but it is proving to be a good strategy. Without defensive duties that he otherwise had in a 3-5-2 on the wing, he feels more freedom.”
The summer was dominated by Juventus negotiations with Chelsea to exchange Vlahovic with Romelu Lukaku, so in the light of the Belgian’s strong start to life at Roma and the Serbian’s injury problems, should the Old Lady feel she missed out?
“I don’t think so. Vlahovic is a strong striker and he is younger. He always scored goals and will continue to score in the future. That is taking nothing away from Lukaku, who can still make the difference in Italy with his physicality,” noted Barzagli.
Allegri has been eager to dampen down Milan coach Stefano Pioli’s suggestions Juventus are among the Scudetto favourites, given an extra advantage by not having European commitments to worry about.
“Although the cup competitions are fascinating to play, they do sap you of physical and psychological energy. It is also probable they sap you of a few Serie A points, although that is by no means a certainty,” continues the former defender.
“The trouble is that everyone is playing hide and seek in the Scudetto race. What Allegri and Pioli are doing is pure strategy, they are trying to put pressure on each other. Juve are not the favourites, but they do have a strong squad with many international players and must think of having a great season.
“Having said that, in terms of squad depth, Milan, Inter and Napoli have something more. The Nerazzurri have more confidence after the Champions League Final in Istanbul, Milan are surprising me in a positive way and if Napoli get into gear again, they can do really well too.”
While Allegri stays positive, his approach to football can be considered negative and frustrating even by Juve’s own supporters, which was only exacerbated by the 0-0 draw under siege against Atalanta last week.
“I liked the first half performances against Udinese and Lazio, they were more aggressive and attacking, but I don’t yet know if that was the ‘real Juve’ or an exception to the rule,” confessed Barzagli, who for a while was part of Allegri’s coaching staff.
“The truth is probably somewhere in between. The current Juve is a hybrid team. A point away to Atalanta is never a bad result, but they didn’t create enough in Bergamo and it looked like last season’s Juve.”