Allegri: Juventus have to start from scratch

Juventus slipped to yet another defeat at home against a well-organized Atalanta side that left Juventus Stadium with their first ever win, and their first victory in Turin in 32 years.

“It was a performance similar to the one against Lazio, with Fiorentina and Milan. We don’t make the most of the chances we create, Atalanta had only one shot on goal from our error, and as I said yesterday, it’s the goal that counts.

“There is some anxiety, the players are hasty and rush things, but we must keep working on the performances and try to win games to get that confidence and calm back.”

Has the bar been set too high in terms of expectations for this Juventus squad who continue to overwhelm near the halfway point of the season.

“I think it’s a very good squad, there are moments when we struggle to score goals, but people said at the start that this was the strongest squad that simply had to win the Scudetto and I always noted that was inaccurate.

“We are here to challenge for the top four. I cannot complain to my lads after this performance, I can only congratulate their efforts, then the rest is down to those of you who talk for a living.”

The numbers don’t lie, as Juve this season are seven points behind where Andrea Pirlo had this side last season, and fifteen worse than Maurizio Sarri the season before that.

“I think we must be realistic. If we are in this position after 14 rounds, it means this is what we are worth right now. There’s a long way to go, but in terms of performance, I only saw us get it really wrong against Verona, Sassuolo and Empoli.

“Once we are realistic, we can take the pressure off and work better in a calmer environment. All we can do is try to get the best out of ourselves.

“We are Juventus and people seem to think that means we must automatically be Scudetto favourites. What we need to do is keep working, try to calm down and score some more goals. At this moment we are struggling to score and in my view it’s because we have lost that sense of calm and confidence.

“There’s no point thinking of ifs and buts. We have to start from scratch, put everything behind us and be prepared to fight it out on level terms with Salernitana, then add our quality on top.”