05 March 2017
Massimiliano Allegri stressed that there was still plenty of football to be played as Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw by Udinese on Sunday afternoon.
“This was a set point at the most,” said Allegri after the final whistle, responding to those who had painted the game at Dacia Arena as a title decider following Roma’s defeat to Napoli on Saturday. “The league wouldn’t have been sewn up even if we’d won because there are 11 games left. It’s a good point because it takes us eight points clear of Roma.
“We hadn’t drawn for a year and were coming off the back of several demanding matches. We didn’t want to draw, but Udinese played very well. Now we need to work on preparing for AC Milan, Porto and Sampdoria. We still need more points because there’s a long way to go yet.”
Allegri conceded that his side’s performance at Udinese had been under par.
“Our play needed to be quicker in the first half,” he explained. “After the break we should have shown more patience and tried to mix up our play more.”
The Juventus coach also explained his reasons for replacing Paulo Dybala with defensive midfielder Tomas Rincon as the side chased all three points late on.
“I wanted to add another midfielder to try to work a chance,” said Allegri. “Even if you can’t win a match, you must not lose it.”
