A two-week hiatus from club football seems to have helped Massimiliano Allegri rally his Juventus troops following a dismal Serie A start. Back to top-flight action after September’s international break, the Bianconeri thumped bottom-half Bologna 3-0 at the Allianz Stadium.
September was nothing short of embarrassing for Juventus. They failed to win any of their five competitive outings last month (D2, L3). The team’s poor form brought head coach Allegri under heavy scrutiny, with Turin faithful demanding his immediate farewell for weeks.
Under pressure to deliver, Allegri at least extended his stay at Juventus by navigating his side to a comprehensive win over lowly Bologna. Summer signing Filip Kostic broke the deadlock midway through the first half to hand the hosts a slender halftime lead.
For the first time since the opening-day triumph over Sassuolo, Juventus looked like they knew what they wanted in the front third. Standout striker Dusan Vlahovic returned to the scoresheet for the first time since August, heading home Weston McKennie’s cross to give Juve a two-goal cushion right before the hour mark.
In-form Arkadiusz Milik put the icing on the cake with an outrageous volley from the edge of the box to sink Thiago Motta’s underachievers. But more importantly, he sealed an overwhelming victory for Allegri, whose future at Juventus remains up in the air.
Not off the hook yet, Allegri took to the press to demand simplicity from his Juventus side ahead of their uphill task to bounce back in the Champions League and Serie A.
“The last week was disastrous, partly our own fault and partly incidents that went against us,” he told DAZN, as relayed by TUTTOmercatoWEB. “In these moments, we need to be organized, try not to overdo it, just keep it simple. We all need to do better, as we are trailing in Serie A and lost both Champions League matches.“
After returning to winning ways in Serie A, Juventus shift their attention toward Europe. The Italians have lost their opening two Champions League matches and risk dropping out of the competition’s group stages unless they beat Israeli champions Maccabi Haifa in midweek.