08 January 2017
Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri declared that the coming month will play a key role in deciding who wins Serie A 2016/17 after his Bianconeri side kicked off the new year with a 3-0 win over Bologna on Sunday night.
“I’m sure that things will be a lot clearer after January – it’s a key period,” said Allegri after the victory at Juventus Stadium. “Our rivals – like Roma and Napoli – are doing very well and keeping the pressure up, but it’s going to be a long, exciting season.”
Allegri was full of praise for his side after they got 2017 off to the best possible start.
“From a technical standpoint our performance was good, especially considering it was the first match of the year after the winter break. We’ve worked hard over the past few days and now we need to keep doing that to boost our fitness.
“I wanted to see real desire and that was there from the off. We gave a bit too much away in the first half, but after the break we took control of possession and never looked like conceding.
“The lads are very good at reading games – they work hard for each other and focus on doing what I ask of them. That goes for everyone: the starting line-up and those that start from the bench and need to be on their game when they do come on. Everybody is pitching in and that’s vital if you’re going to be successful.”
Allegri went on to stress that Juve were not only focused on the league, with the Coppa Italia and Champions League set to resume in the coming weeks.
“We have our first Coppa Italia game on Wednesday and it won’t be easy against Atalanta – they’re doing very well. In the Champions League, we’ll have to be at our best to beat Porto. We have lots of matches coming up but right now we need to focus on training well.”
