Allegri: Juventus deserved victory over Empoli

Juventus overcame a scare away at Empoli when they went down 1-0 in the first half but a brace after the break from Cristiano Ronaldo secured all three points.

After the game manager Massimiliano Allegri spoke about the opponents on the day -

“The team had started with the right approach, but after 10 minutes we slowed down the tempo of our passing and allowed a few too many Empoli counters.

“Empoli are tough to play against, as they had one centre-forward, two trequartista and the wingers that had pace, so we had to be wary of the counter and that is how they scored the goal.

“In the second half, we created many chances and deserved the victory, but we have to tip our hats to Empoli for being so well-organised and impressive.

“I left at the end because there were five seconds to go and we would either win or equalise, there was no other option.”

Despite being named in the starting lineup defender Giorgio Chiellini didn’t play, and the suspicion was that he had tweaked something during the warm-up.

“Chiellini felt a twinge and wasn’t sure, so it was best not to risk it. Daniele Rugani played very well. Miralem Pjanic wasn’t as sharp as usual and I moved Rodrigo Bentancur to block off the Empoli counter-attacks.”

Allegri also spoke about the importance of today’s win, and the star of the day Ronaldo.

“I told the lads, this was a game we had to win, it didn’t matter how well or badly we played. The goal was a moment of magic from an extraordinary player and it’s something kids will try to copy in the schoolyard. It’s much easier to get kids passionate about that rather than explaining tactics to them.

“I continue to maintain there is too much theory in Italian football schools and it pains me to see kids go to training and not even enjoy themselves. We’ve got to focus on the simple things in life first.”