Former Juventus full-back Patrice Evra believes Juventus can win the Scudetto, saying that title rivals Inter ‘fear’ the Bianconeri. The Frenchman spoke at length with Tuttosport about his former team and the remarkable season they’re having, despite criticisms of coach Max Allegri’s approach to the game:
‘Juve’s season? The first word that comes to mind is miracle. But it’s not, it would be reductive. The work done by Max Allegri has been amazing. He rolled up his sleeves and pulled out of his hat a compact, solid, aggressive, fighting, irreducible team.
“Scudetto? Juve is Juve, it has the tricolour in its DNA. Lacklustre play? These are criticisms that many fans make of Allegri. But I reiterate a concept I learned from Max himself: for spectacle and entertainment it’s enough to go to the circus, for three points it’s enough to cheer Juve to the end. The standings are made up of points to be put on the board, not conjurer’s ‘numbers’. And then there is another aspect that is not secondary to consider: the fact that Inter fear Juve, they know they are strong, thirsty for ‘revanche’ and victories’.
“‘Let’s not forget that Juventus came third last year considering the points won on the field, so someone else should have stayed out of the Champions League… But then, through no fault of the team, there were the 15 penalty points in the league, the fine, the exclusion from Europe. The boys tied it on their finger and this year they are angry, charged up, hungry for revenge. I see many similarities with the Italian national team that won the World Cup in Berlin in 2006, unfortunately against us. The team reacted to the decisions of the judges who were imposing sanctions for Calciopoli. That is why I say that Juve has what it takes to win the Scudetto.”
“A player tries to take the best from every coach he has had. It is no mystery that I won the Champions League at Manchester United under the guidance of the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson. He gave me freedom on the pitch, he always wanted us to impose our game in any stadium in the world without too much tactics or sophistry. Allegri is a bit like the Scottish ‘coach’: football is a simple game, tactics count but only up to a certain point. Grit, will, application, tiger’s eyes in the end make the difference. Characteristics that my former team is showing off…’.
