Allegri: Juve-Inter draw another stage in the growth process

Juventus needed a late penalty neatly dispatched by Paulo Dybala to rescue a point away at Inter Milan in a see-saw battle between the two big Derby D’Italia rivals. Speaking after the game, coach Massimiliano Allegri was happy with the effort his side put in.

“The first half performance was good, the second even better. We had a few chances that we should’ve done better with, then we pushed up with more confidence against a very good Inter.

“Let’s not forget the Nerazzurri are strong technically and physically, so we needed a performance like this. We were a little too frantic at the start in the press, but that too is another stage in the growth process.”

League leaders Napoli finally dropped points, but with this draw Juventus remain ten points behind them at about the quarter mark of the season.

“It’s a good point, it keeps us within three points of Inter and allows us to continue this positive run of results, while we have the opportunity to close up on the leading pack before the break for international duty.”

Allegri’s squad selection was a bit of a surprise, with both Federico Chiesa and Matthijs de Ligt not in the starting lineup and the Bianconeri lining up in a 3-5-2 formation.

“I knew it could be quite a physical game to start with, so I needed someone like Kulusevski to put more pressure on Brozovic. As the tempo dropped, I put on Dybala and Chiesa, the confidence was growing too. It’s a good point, but now we absolutely must win on Wednesday against Sassuolo.”

Federico Bernardeschi dislocated his shoulder early on, and before Juve could make the substitution Inter scored their goal to go ahead.

“It was just a coincidence. Even down to 10 men, we could’ve avoided conceding that goal, it was quite fortuitous. It was a hard-fought game, very physical, we need to finish our moves better because when the ball goes into the penalty area, we have to finish the chance.”

Juventus were starting to build a clean sheet streak before this game, were ALlegri’s side well-suited to come from behind?

“We dropped eight out of nine points in the opening three rounds, so we had to start again from the foundations. The foundations are organisation and a solid defence. We needed to build from that first, then we’ve been moving more forward, a bit more, and in time with more confidence, we will be more attacking.

“We had kept four straight clean sheets, so that was progress, today we allowed Inter very few chances. The problem is that everyone has to be aggressive, from the forwards to the defenders, otherwise the team struggles.”

Late substitute Kaio Jorge came on and gave Leonardo Bonucci a note, with the veteran defender reading it and then putting it away in one of his socks, and Allegri was asked what on that note.

“I didn’t write it, that was my assistant! It was about set plays and that’s Landucci’s territory. Maybe that’s why he keeps telling me to delay substitutions, so he can write…”