Juventus is again. Possibly.
After a run of 5 matches with out a win — together with a humiliating loss to Monza in what was the primary Serie A victory for the staff owned by Silvio Berlusconi — Juventus has gained two straight and at last obtained its Champions League marketing campaign going with a 3-1 victory over Maccabi Haifa on Wednesday.
The Bianconeri will head to the San Siro on Saturday for a match towards defending champion AC Milan in a significantly better temper than earlier than the worldwide break, however coach Massimiliano Allegri is cautious.
“The truth that we’ve gained two in a row doesn’t imply something,” Allegri stated. “We have now to remain silent, get our heads down and work onerous as a result of we’re behind in each Serie A and the Champions League.”
Allegri is effectively conscious that there are nonetheless issues to work on. Juventus wasted a variety of probabilities towards Maccabi and conceded a aim with quarter-hour remaining to endure a tense finale, earlier than Adrien Rabiot scored his second of the match.
“We stopped enjoying with 1 / 4 of an hour left and after we conceded we obtained scared and enjoying with concern may be very harmful,” Allegri stated. “We might have scored three, 4, 5, six targets however that’s not the issue, the issue comes if you happen to proceed to ham it up and attempt to be too fairly.
“We have been fortunate. On the finish of the match there was silence within the dressing room, which stated so much about that.”
Juventus definitely might have scored extra and almost all these probabilities got here from high quality passes from Ángel Di María, who would have had greater than the hat trick of assists he did report if his teammates had been extra scientific.
Di María’s impressed efficiency was considerably bittersweet because it was a reminder of what Juventus had been lacking, with the Argentina midfielder solely just lately coming back from harm, and what it’ll once more be with out this weekend as a result of he’s suspended after being despatched off within the loss to Monza.
“I’m very upset not to have the ability to play towards Milan,” Di María stated. “However I deserved it for the error I made.
“I actually remorse that mistake. It was a scarcity of respect for my teammates, for the membership and for myself. I’m human, nevertheless, and I’ll strive to not make the identical mistake once more.”
Juventus shall be anticipating a sterner take a look at this weekend at Milan, Allegri’s former staff. However Milan is battling a variety of accidents and reeling from a 3-0 loss at Chelsea within the Champions League.
“It actually hurts. It actually hurts us as a staff,” Milan stand-in captain Ismaël Bennacer stated in London. “Now we have to elevate our heads again up, analyze what we did improper and get ourselves collectively … with renewed spirit and starvation.”