Allegri: Juve still aiming for Champions League qualification first

Juventus came away with a 1-0 win from AC Milan, with the generous assistance of a silly sending off and a handy deflection for the only score of the game. Coach Massimiliano Allegri led the Bianconeri to a gritty win against his former side to see Juve climb into second place in the league table, and after the game commended his side for their performance.

“Juventus played well defensively, but football is about moments and Kean did well on that move.

“Once we were against 10 men, we did not start the second half well. In the final minutes, we lacked patience and kept allowing Milan counter-attacks. It is true we had an extra man, but the pace of Rafael Leao can neutralise that gap.

“It had been a long time since we had beaten Milan, so I can only thank my players.”

Not for the first time, this season even, Allegri seemed to lose the plot late on with his jacket and tie getting flung away and a number of random objects in his periphery meeting the fuy of his boot.

“It is just about the way you pass it around. Playing against 10 men, you have to use the pitch like an airport and not let them get anywhere near the ball, you do not allow them to counter like that.

“When you have the extra man, you do not make those passes in tight channels, you do not dribble, do not take men on. You don’t force the moves, you go for the guaranteed ones.

“These are things we need to work on, as we have some lads without much experience and playing at San Siro was a big test for them.”

The dangerous Rafael Leao was mostly neutralized by a combination of Weston McKennie and Timothy Weah on the right.

“Every now and then, Leao managed to escape them too and Gatti had to do well covering for them, then Bremer later on. I don’t think we allowed Milan a shot on goal and then the lads did well to get this victory.

“I am glad that Dean Huijsen made his debut, he was born in 2005, but never made things too difficult, never caused problems for his teammates and his reading of the game was wonderful.”

In his mind did this win make Juve a contender for the Scudetto?

“If we are just content with the victory, then we will get nowhere. We need to build on this and improve where we are getting these things wrong.

“Inter, Milan and Napoli are the favourites for the Scudetto, we are aiming for the Champions League qualification. We have to take it one step at a time, it’s going to clam up pretty soon with Atalanta, Lazio and Roma putting together a run of results.”