Allegri: Juventus risked defeat to get important point

It took a late equalizer to ensure Juventus came away from Bergamo with a point after a tough game with Atalanta taking the lead with just about fifteen minutes to play. Speaking after the game, coach Massimiliano Allegri summarized the game.

“It would’ve been disappointing to lose a game after playing so well.

“We made mistakes in our finishing and the final ball, there were three minutes of terror just before half-time on the counter after we lost the ball cheaply and De Ligt threw himself in the way twice.

“The second half was better, paradoxically when we were meant to score, we got the pass wrong, Atalanta were on the counter and Malinovskyi did well to win that free kick. It was an extraordinary goal and Danilo scored a great equaliser.”

Allegri had started with the trident formation of Paulo Dybala, Alvaro Morata and Dusan Vlahovic once again, and they had some joy early on.

“McKennie opened up a lot of spaces for Dybala and Morata. The lads had some good triangles, the first chance was created by McKennie and Dybala, but there was a period where we got too crammed together and didn’t spread the play.

“Atalanta are very aggressive, so we had to move the ball quickly to get it behind them. It was a very entertaining game, we were losing 1-0 and risked defeat, but it is an important point. We wanted to win, but knew Atalanta were strong and so we’re happy to keep the unbeaten run going.”

Fans had had dreams that somehow Juventus would mount an incredible late run to make a charge for the Scudetto, but the coach insisted that his side were never in it, and nothing had changed.

“It was official before this. There are too many points to claw back from three teams. We just try to improve our performances and we need to make a step forward when we have that final ball to turn a chance into a goal. That’s where we need to do better.”

New signing Denis Zakaria had put together two very good performances before this, but remained on the bench for this one.

“There were a lot of spaces to attack, McKennie is very good at that and he played well tonight. Zakaria had just come off two games, so we needed fresh legs there.”

Juventus saw their 381 minute streak without conceding a league goal until that incredible effort beat Szczesny.

“I think the only time in the last 10-12 years that the best defence didn’t win the Scudetto was a couple of seasons ago with Maurizio Sarri. I said in September that Inter would win, I still feel that they are the strongest squad, no disrespect to Milan and Napoli.

“Right now, Inter are stronger than Juve. We dropped too many points at the start of the season. If we had just four points more, we could’ve had some fun, but that’s not where we are.”