01 August 2015
Massimiliano Allegri chose to focus on the positives when reflecting on this evening’s 2-0 pre-season friendly defeat to Olympique Marseille in France.
The Tuscan tactician says he was pleased with how his team reacted to the first-half dismissal of Stephan Lichtsteiner and claims tonight’s test at the Stade Velodrome will only help the team to improve as they look to approach next week’s Super Cup final in the best possible condition.
Speaking to the media in Marseille, Allegri began: “We were very good in the first 20 minutes, against a side who are a lot further ahead of us in terms of their pre-season preparations and pressed us all over the park.
“Then we afforded them a couple of counter attacks and conceded a goal that was slightly fortuitous from their part, before playing the entire second half with 10 men. On the whole I’d say it was a relatively decent display.”
A burning question on the lips of reporters during the manager’s post-match interview concerned the fitness of Sami Khedira, who was stretchered off midway through the first half.
Allegri confirmed the summer signing would miss out on the Super Cup final, expressing his disappointment at losing a key player who has immediately looked at ease in the black and white stripes.
“It’s a pity about Sami. He’d been sidelined for a while before joining us and paid the price with this evening’s injury. He was doing well, so we’ve lost an important player for the Super Cup final.”
Two bright spots of the evening were the individual performances of Paul Pogba and Leonardo Bonucci, both of whom are proving to be real leaders of this new-look Bianconeri outfit.
Allegri agreed with the praise directed towards the duo before expressing his belief that Juventus’ first-half display means they can approach Saturday’s Super Cup final with a positive frame of mind.
“They played well and I’m very happy with how they acquitted themselves. All the others put in good shifts though and it’s only normal that we need to improve on our condition and quality of play. Our first-half play was of a good standard and this bodes well for the future.”
