Juventus assistant manager Marco Landucci stood in for Max Allegri during the 2-1 Coppa Italia win over Monza and encouraged the growth of the ‘young lads’ proving themselves at this level.
Allegri was in the stands for this match, sitting out a touchline ban after last season’s ill-tempered Final defeat to Inter in extra time, so assistant manager Landucci was on the bench.
It was a tricky situation in Turin, where Moise Kean saw his early header cancelled out by Mattia Valoti nodding in a corner at the near post.
Substitute Federico Chiesa made the difference, cutting inside from the left despite having his shirt pulled to curl a right-foot finish in off the inside of the far post.
Juve needed the response after their 5-1 Serie A defeat to Napoli last week.
“It was an important match, we needed to get back on track, had many young lads who did very well and are pleased because the Coppa Italia matters to Juventus.
“It is just a pity we conceded a goal on a corner where we should’ve been more careful, but the important thing was to get through to the next round,” Landucci told Sport Mediaset.
The Bianconeri bench proved decisive and Landucci was asked if he might’ve brought some of those big names on a bit earlier.
“Chiesa came on at the right moment, scored the goal and he won the game. Angel Di Maria was out of training for a few days, we knew our substitutes could give us a boost upfront and that’s what happened.”
At the same time, the players promoted from the NextGen squad are doing very well alongside their more senior teammates and the emergency caused by the injury crisis has allowed them to discover some fresh new talents, with Fabio Miretti, Nicolò Fagioli, Samuel Iling Junior and Matias Soule all starting tonight.
“Miretti and Fagioli have played with us regularly now and were decisive when we were missing more experienced figures, bringing in freshness, quality and physicality. Iling too had several games.”
Juventus will face Lazio in the Coppa Italia quarter-final on February 2.
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