Max Allegri hails 'wonderful' Juve performance against Barcelona
Allegri argued that Juventus could have taken all 3 points "if we had been a bit quicker in the transitions, we would’ve had more favourable opportunities, but in the second half they stopped us doing that. We had the Douglas Costa shot and the final save on Paulo Dybala. It’s an important point, as it allows us to go to Olympiacos and play a game where a point is not enough, we need a win, or can go through with a defeat depending on what happens in Barcelona."
Allegri then explained his thoughts behind deploying the 3-4-2-1 after Chiellini was ruled out of the fixture due to injury stating that "the team did very well, so rather than have a full-back who would push up, I moved to three at the back with Andrea Barzagli being static. It was the same players, as we had Juan Cuadrado, Alex Sandro and Douglas Costa, so it wasn’t a negative approach. I told the players that I was not interested in the result tonight, but in the performance. I saw the right spirit and heart, as when Juve defend in a certain way all together, it’s tough for us to concede goals. I said at the start that to get through this group, we needed at least eight points. Sporting won the opener in Greece and messed up my calculations and we might need 12 points."
In conclusion Allegri reflected on the 3 seasons he's been in charge of the Bianconeri in the Champions League stating that "It is strange, last season we didn’t lose a Champions League game until the Final. The year before we conceded very few as well, but every year is different. We had to start from scratch today, since against Sampdoria we let in goals that Juventus cannot concede. The focus was higher against Barcelona tonight, so we didn’t concede."