Allegri: I liked Juventus’ maturity today

Juventus won at Empoli earlier today with a flurry of goals to go four points clear in the Serie A table. Paulo Dybala scored his second of the campaign while record signing Gonzalo Higuain chipped in with another brace. The unfortunate Juan Cuadrado started the game and could have easily had a hattrick if it weren’t for some inspired goalkeeping from Lukasz Skorupski.

After the match, manager Massimiliano Allegri spoke to the media.

“The lads did very well today in a difficult arena and the pitch was slippery too. We allowed a few too many counter-attacks because we didn’t finalise our moves properly.

“It was a different game after the break, as after the opening goal it all became much easier. We need to improve, but in terms of performance this was better.

“I liked the maturity shown by the lads in controlling the match after going 3-0 up, even if we can improve and move the ball around better.

“We ran a few risks at the back because we were a little stretched out between the lines. In midfield we don’t have strong defensive figures right now, so in some cases it’s important to slow the tempo and control it.

“This squad has only been together really for 40 days, what with the various breaks for international duty. Winning games is all that counts and the rest is idle chatter.

“I am very happy with Miralem Pjanic’s performance today. He made some important passes, remained concentrated throughout and gave quality to our football.”

Allegri didn’t miss a chance to say that he felt there were still improvements that needed to be made.

“We could have taken the lead in the first half. Empoli were pressing us hard and there were a couple of times when we lost the ball and afforded them a few three-on-three breaks.

“We need to be more focused because it only takes a set piece or a counter-attack for your opponents to score in a match like this.”

He was however complimentary about how the side broke the game open in the second half, and looked forward to the international break and beyond.

“We broke the deadlock after the break and everything was a lot easier from then on. It was a good performance from the lads. We know we’re improving and we can now enjoy the break before coming back for a big month.

“We’ll be able to go a long way towards determining whether or not we qualify for the Champions League knock-out stages, plus we play two head-to-heads in the league against AC Milan and Napoli.”