Massimiliano Allegri praised his side for reaching a fourth consecutive Coppa Italia final – but was quick to direct attentions to Saturday's league meeting with Lazio. Miralem Pjanic's second-half penalty was enough to seal a 1-0 win against Atalanta on the night and a 2-0 aggregate triumph.
“All credit to the lads because we've achieved our target of reaching the final and we're still in the running on all three fronts,” the coach began. “Now we have to focus on the league because we head to Rome on Friday. After that we'll try to make sure we're in the best shape possible for London.
ATALANTA ANALYSIS
“We had a few difficulties early on in the game, especially in closing down in the wide areas. They were feeding the ball in between the lines and we weren't able to cut out the passes. “We'd planned to play off the centre forward because we knew Atalanta would man-mark in midfield so we had to move around a lot. "Douglas Costa was the game-changer in the second half, playing closer to the centre forward and behind their defensive midfielders starting from out wide.”
TREATMENT ROOM CLEARING
“I'm happy for [Paulo] Dybala. He's working his way back and looking good. He's got the right mentality and I'm sure he'll give us an extra gear heading into the business end of the season. “I'm happy with how [Blaise] Matuidi played as well. He's very important for us because he pressurises opponents and helps us hold a higher line. I'm pleased to see [Sami] Khedira back out there too and that [Claudio] Marchisio played well. “I decided not to risk [Gonzalo] Higuain today. We'll see how he is for Lazio.”
COMING THICK AND FAST
“We must switch our attentions back to Serie A now. Then we'll go to London for a match that is definitely not an obsession. It's a big stage we're playing on and we want to show Europe what we can do.”