Massimiliano Allegri underlined that difficult seasons happen, even to top clubs, and noted the importance of Champions League qualification.
The Bianconeri will now finish this season in a worse position than they did last year under Andrea Pirlo, with no trophy and less points. It was been a frustrating and difficult campaign for both Allegri and the fans, who have started to lose faith in the coach that brought them to two Champions League finals.
Speaking in a press conference, Allegri first discussed the state of his team ahead of tomorrow’s match against Lazio.
“For who we are, we’re fine, tomorrow is the last at home and we have to honour it as best we can. Then it’s Chiellini’s celebration and Dybala’s last game, we must unite all three.”
Allegri touched on if this season could be considered a failure.
“Failure I’m hearing. When you’re at Juve it’s normal that there are high expectations, but such years happen.
“In the meantime we achieved Champions League qualification, which seems like a trivial objective but it’s not. It’s eleven consecutive years that Juve has taken part in the Champions League and it’s an important result.”
He did not want to rate the team’s season.
“These are trivial questions… What do I say 3, so are you happy? You always have to win here, but qualifying for the Champions League is not a trivial objective.”
The Italian coach didn’t want to discuss Paulo Pogba either.
“The season is not over yet and Pogba is a Manchester United player, with the club we will talk about the market at the end of the season. I have already forgotten, I don’t remember him so much, I have a full memory.”
Allegri commented on if Paulo Dybala’s departure takes a back seat compared to Giorgio Chiellini’s farewell.
“They are two different things. Chiellini spent 17 years with Juve, Paulo has a career ahead of him and will have the tribute of all the fans.”
The Juventus coach spoke about if there was a risk of the team giving up for the final two games of the season.
“Lazio and Fiorentina are teams in the running for the Europa League. By the way, tomorrow Sarri arrives, who is the coach of the last Scudetto, I think he will be shrewd because he deserves it.
“Some players will not be there. Danilo has finished his season, Arthur will have finished as well. De Sciglio will be back, Zakaria had a knock on his thigh and we have to evaluate but he won’t be there tomorrow.
“McKennie will see if he can be available on Wednesday. We saw Locatelli who had been out for a while. Miretti will play again tomorrow.”
He discussed if he was satisfied with this season as a whole.
“I am satisfied because of the team’s growth and the minimum goal achieved. Then I am not satisfied because we did not win anything.
“From what was negative there are always positive things, fighters in a season that stopped with Inter. Then moments often decide things. You have to take Wednesday’s defeat with you, it’s something I’ll find hard to erase.”
Finally, Allegri spoke about why it was important for him to take the defeat with him.
“Those are always there. The final must stay with us because we lost. The team did its best, but let’s not forget that in the long run numerically we paid for the traumatic injuries. Chiesa, McKennie, Danilo, Bonucci, it’s normal to pay in terms of strength.
“Vlahovic next year will be a better player than now, because he is young and can improve and has already been at Juve for six months. We have players who can potentially grow. Then with the market we’ll try to improve on the team’s shortcomings.”
Juventus, Allegri: “Parlare ora di mercato non ha senso. Faremo il punto con la società” https://t.co/SHkEZnDmFp
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