Last night, Juventus came away with three important points after beating Hellas Verona with a solitary goal.
Although the Allianz Stadium was packed and buzzing, the Bianconeri couldn’t quite deliver an entertaining performance, only earning a victory with minimal effort.
Following an uneventful first half, Moise Kean put the Old Lady in front after beating Lorenzo Montipo from close range. Fabio Miretti and Manuel Locatelli combined well in the build-up to put the striker through on goal.
Following the match, Max Allegri tried to explain the reasons behind the uninspiring display, citing Verona’s style of play which forces opponents to play badly.
“The difficulties prevented us from playing a good match, but these are three fundamental points,” said the Juventus coach in his post-match interview as published by La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“The match after the international break is always an odd one, the lads did well to take the points home. The second half was better than the first.
“Verona make you play badly, they make you run, but instead we started moving the ball after the first 20 minutes. In the last 10 minutes we could have ended the match with a second goal.
“We need to improve and the boys know it. This was an important win, also in view of Inter in the Coppa Italia and Lazio next Saturday”.
Allegri also had some words of praise for Kean and Locatelli who missed out on a call-up from the Italian national team. Nonetheless, the manager insists that Italy manager Roberto Mancini knows what’s best for his team.
“Kean has grown a lot, just like the others. Mancini has the experience in calling players regardless of everything.
“Whoever plays for Juve will be the future of the national team, if not immediately then in the future. But Roberto is a great coach and makes assessments based on what Italy needs.
“Manuel has reacted well, he has grown a lot on a tactical level. He’s good at shielding the defence but he can still improve in certain areas. We’re talking about a player who has heart and passion, one who never backs down.”
