Massimiliano Allegri was rated 5/10 by all three Italian sports papers, with media debating Juventus‘ sterile possession and the coach’s use of substitutions against Villarreal.
Juventus lost 3-0 against Villarreal in Turin last night and were eliminated from the Champions League Round of 16 for the third successive season. Max Allegri refused to blame his players during his post-match interviews but looked irritable when journalists suggested that the Old Lady’s campaign had been disastrous.
Italian sports papers offered their verdict on the Italian tactician highlighting Juventus’ shortcomings against Villarreal last night. To be fair, papers are not too harsh on Allegri as they all rate him 5/10.
‘Juventus had a few chances in the first half, followed by a sterile ball possession that he doesn’t really like. Useless because it didn’t shift the balance,’ was the comment on La Gazzetta dello Sport.
‘Juventus sank as soon as Emery put more quality in,’ wrote Tuttosport.
‘On the other hand, Allegri waied to go down before introducing Dybala. He lost badly a game that Juventus could have won in the first half.’
As per Il Corriere dello Sport, the ‘curse continues after eliminations against Porto and Lyon.
‘Juventus inexplicably melted and were again eliminated too early in the competition. A huge shock.’
The Old Lady are seven points behind Serie A table leader Milan and the Coppa Italia seems to be their only credible target left this season.