Allegri: ‘Juventus have to improve, focus now on Coppa Italia’

Massimiliano Allegri was not best pleased with his team’s display following Sunday evening’s 1-1 draw with already-relegated Salernitana in Serie A, but insists that the players and staff must now switch their focus to Wednesday’s Coppa Italia final against Atalanta.

Juventus fought their way back to rescue a point against the division’s 20th-placed side. It was Adrien Rabiot who netted the 91st minute equaliser, following Niccolo Pierozzi’s 27th-minute opener.

The Old Lady were also let off when Toma Basic put the ball over the crossbar from within the edge of the area with the final kick of the game.

Allegri reaction after Juventus 1-1 Salernitana

“It was a bad first half,” Allegri said during his post-match chat with DAZN. “We started reasonably well, then made a mistake in our decision making. We became disjointed and we didn’t hold our positions.”

Allegri was particularly displeased with the manner in which Juventus conceded. He felt that the team had done enough across the 90 minutes to warrant a clean sheet.

“To concede a goal from a dead ball, we knew that Salernitana were going to be dangerous there. We didn’t threaten them at all from set pieces. We needed to be more precise, but we weren’t.”

He later added: “We did enough not to concede, we could have threatened more from set pieces, then Lean’s chance, he shot when he could have developed the sequence better.

On the topic of the second period, Allegri continued: “We just needed the patience to play properly, not to shoot when you don’t need to shout, but to pass instead. We had a good reaction, then the same thing happened as in Roma.

“You can’t lose a match like that, otherwise you risk never picking yourselves back up again. A draw, now three days to prepare for the final.”

Explaining what it is Juventus need to do to improve on performances like the one against Salernitana, Allegri said: “You don’t need to be frantic, but you do need to be fast.

“The first minutes were similar to our game against Roma. We didn’t exploit certain situations because of our decision making. I’ve said it many times, Wednesday is so important for us. You need coolness, clarity and patience.

“The team has to improve. Now let’s recover, it’s going to be a nice evening on Wednesday, then we’ll think about getting the points for the Champions League.”