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Allegri: “We need to manage possession better”

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Allegri: “We need to manage possession better”
Allegri: “We need to manage possession better”
Allegri: “We need to manage possession better”

Massimiliano Allegri admitted his side need to use the ball better after they were beaten 2-1 by Fiorentina at the Stadio Artemio Franchi on Sunday night.

“In the first half they put pressure on [Giorgio] Chiellini and Alex Sandro, but we should have managed possession better and brought it out more calmly,” said the Juventus coach after the final whistle.

“We conceded when the match had fallen into a lull, then in the second half we had chances to equalise but you have to hand it to Fiorentina for the way they played,” added Allegri.

The Juve boss urged his players to bounce back from the defeat as quickly as possible, pointing to the added hunger teams show when they come up against the five-time champions.

“The league has never been done and dusted,” insisted Allegri. “We still have a game in hand so we can potentially go four points clear, but this match has to make us realise that all teams play the game of their lives against us so we need to fight, especially at a ground like this.”

The Bianconeri’s efforts to recover from a two-goal deficit against Paulo Sousa’s men were thwarted time and again by a slew of stoppages and interruptions, but Allegri was unwilling to make excuses for the result.

“You can’t have a match with just 45 minutes actual play, but tonight it’s better to keep quiet and focus on working hard. We’ve conceded 16 goals in 19 games and that’s a lot, but it’s the whole team that needs to change the way they’re defending,” said Allegri.

Finally, the coach revealed his reasons for leaving Miralem Pjanic on the bench in Florence.

“He picked up a knock and I didn’t want to risk him, given how many matches we still have to play.”

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