Juventus struggled to create chances against Atalanta but at the same time succeeded in keeping the hosts at bay in a cagey affair at the Gewiss Stadium. Max Allegri had to do without their two strikers in Dusan Vlahovic and Arkadiusz Milik, as the Bianconeri were restricted to an Expected Goals (xG) ratio of 0.19, their lowest in recent memory.
Allegri took stock of the game in his post-match press interview to DAZN (via Calciomercato).
“We played a good 60 minutes and could have done better in certain situations. Moise Kean hadn’t played for a long time, Kenan Yildiz came in well, then Atalanta put us in trouble at the end. We risked a one-on-one against Federico Gatti, but it went well. It’s excellent that we didn’t concede a goal and got an away point. In the first half, we could have been more precise, but we were good at staying compact. In my opinion, we weren’t convinced enough that we could go and score.”
Allegri then pointed to Wojciech Szczesny as one of the best in Europe despite an uninspiring performance against Sassuolo last time out.
“He’s one of the best in Europe. Bad evenings happen. It wasn’t just his fault that we lost against Sassuolo because we had successfully come back and couldn’t concede a goal like the 3-2 one.”
The Bianconeri gaffer also shed light on his other players.
“Adrien Rabiot finished in a crescendo. I spoke to him during the week. He missed the preparation, but he is of international level. He helped us when there were some difficulties today. Weston McKennie also did well. It was a difficult match, but we’re happy. Federico Chiesa has starred a few times in a row and certainly played with clarity. I could have fielded Samuel Iling or avoided using a center-forward. But Federico always creates danger when he is on the pitch”.
Juventus face Torino next in the Derby della Mole.
“Torino don’t partecipate in the cups like us, so I don’t see any advantages for them. We need to think about playing and doing it as well as possible. The important thing is to stay focused.”
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