Max Allegri: “Juventus will definitely challenge for the Scudetto”

Juventus drew 0-0 at Inter Milan in the latest installment of the Derby D'Italia, and minutes after the game, manager Massimiliano Allegri spoke to the press.

He started off talking about his aspirations for the season:

"I don't know if we'll win the Scudetto, but we will definitely get back into the race. That's for certain.

"I don't want us to get caught up in the anxiety of the situation now, as there's a long way to go.

"The plan is to be challenging by the start of March and then we'll see about a final push. Getting one point here doesn't move the table much, but it stops Inter breaking away, we kept a clean sheet and put in a strong performance."

Allegri called out the effort by defender Andrea Barzagli on the day, while deploring some of the standards of finishing by Juve:

"We needed the same determination in attack that Andrea Barzagli had when defending.

"We lack goals, a team like ours cannot score so few goals [nine] after eight rounds.

"We have to improve on the timing of runs and passes, but let's also not forget that I've only had the full squad for two days. It was a decent performance in the circumstances."

On his surprise choice to start the game with Simone Zaza rather than Paulo Dybala:

"Of those who returned from South America, only Juan Cuadrado started because his characteristics are unique.

"I thought Zaza did very well and proved he belongs at Juventus. He caused problems for the Inter defenders and worked hard for the team.

"Alvaro Morata has the qualities to play with anyone. I think Dybala will have to transform, and is already doing so, into a trequartista or support striker when against teams that are locked down. He's getting there, but with harder work than he's used to is less sharp when reaching the goal.

"Mario Mandzukic is strong when there are players on his sides providing service, while Zaza is better at attacking the space."

On yet another lackluster performance from Paul Pogba:

"Paul has some very specific characteristics, he's a box to box midfielder. At the moment his timing is a little wrong and it's a lot busier with a traffic jam in midfield.

"He is only 22 years old, but in order to bring quality, he needs to maintain intensity throughout the full 90 minutes."