Juventus coach Max Allegri played down transfer talk, saying his squad can only be improved with the work they are already doing. The Bianconeri put in a spirited performance to beat Roma 1-0 in Turin, with Adrien Rabiot scoring the only goal of the game. Speaking post-match, Allegri discussed a number of subjects, including the comments of Inter defender Francesco Acerbi, who suggested Juventus had spent close to €200m in recent seasons:
“A good game, playing against Roma is never easy and with Jose it’s even more complicated. In the first half we risked on two or three balls months into the box from Dybala. The team was compact and united, we approached the second half well and we could have also scored the second goal. It was important to win because we extend our lead over those behind, there’s still one game left then on 7 January we’ll see how many points we managed to score in the first half.
“At this moment we’re also fairly well physically. In this match we also developed good game geometry, beginning to use the whole field a little more. We still have to improve a bit in diagonal passing. But above all, after the goals we conceded so easily against Genoa and Frosinone, the team became afraid of conceding goals again and it’s normal that when that’s the case we defend more correctly.
“Vlahovic? Tonight he played a good game, as the last ones had been good, he’s growing compared to those games because he’s better physically, we looked for him enough and we could have done even more. He also played well technically and can grow further.”
“I don’t comment on Acerbi’s words, Inter are two points ahead of us, they are having an extraordinary season because 45 points is a lot, knowing that for us it is a different path to theirs, just look at the squad we have at our disposal as age and we are satisfied with what we are doing, without looking at others’ houses.”
“Transfers? At this moment our squad can only be improved with the work we are doing, we have good young players who are growing fast: I think we will soon be able to see Nonge too, he needs to be ‘straightened out’ a bit but he knows how to play very good football. ”
“Juve are back in the Champions League. This is an important victory because it allows us not only to keep Roma at a distance but also to distance the others: 43 points allow us to have fewer points to go for arithmetic qualification to the next Champions League.”
