Allegri: Juventus need to be clinical against Atalanta

The fixtures continue to come thick and fast for Juventus, with another big game this weekend. The Bianconeri will still be licking their wounds after a 4-0 mauling at the hands of Chelsea, but Massimiliano Allegri will have to get his side back on track quickly because 5th place Atalanta come visiting on Saturday with their own brand of high octane football.

Speaking ahead of the clash, Allegri knows the importance of this clash against Gian Piero Gasperini’s side.

“Atalanta have been doing extraordinary work for many years, tomorrow’s game is between two teams in the race for the top four.

“Tomorrow is an important match, but not decisive, we have an important month ahead, the next six games are crucial.

“Atalanta are a physical team, they score many goals, but they concede a lot too. We need a good game in attack and defence. We need to be clinical.”

Allegri admitted his side were poor in London and they needed to put that performance behind them quickly.

“We are sorry for the defeat in London, we are Juventus and it’s never good to make such a bad impression. However, we had won the most important game in Turin.

“The team played a good first half in London, the game was balanced until minute 55. Perhaps we played a better first half than the reverse fixture in Turin, but we melted after their second goal.”

The coach gave a quick status update on a couple of injuries as well, while adding that he will not be reverting to a three-man backline.

“Giorgio Chiellini and Federico Bernardeschi trained with the team yesterday, Aaron Ramsey is not available and Mattia De Sciglio returns on Tuesday. We are in good shape, ready to put in a great performance.”

Federico Chiesa was very subdued against Chelsea, and came in for a lot of criticism after his performance.

“He played a good game against Lazio, he had a few chances to score goals. He can be devastating in open spaces. Against Chelsea, it was a different story. The level was different.

“Federico has extraordinary qualities, he is really good technically, he needs to work and improve like everyone else, but I am happy with what he is doing.”

Juventus’ slow start to the campaign has meant that there is little wiggle room when playing against better opponents.

“The problem is that we didn’t make good results against the smaller clubs. Tomorrow is an important game, but we need balance and a different approach, we are motivated. The lads were a bit sad after the defeat in London, but yesterday they trained really well.

“We need to follow a general path to improve the single players and the team. We can’t look at the past, we need to get to March in good shape as a new season will begin at that point.

“It was impossible to think Juventus could win [the Scudetto] for 20 years in a row, it’s a balanced league, there have been changes and everyone hoped to do better. I share my views with the club and we know where we have to get.”