As featured on NewsNow: Football news

Juventus coach Allegri: Victory at Malmo eases tension

Juventus coach Max Allegri admits the pressure has eased after their 3-0 win at Champions League opponents Malmo.

Alex Sandro's header opened the scoring, followed by a Paulo Dybala penalty and Alvaro Morata strike.

“When you play in the Champions League, there is always some tension in the build-up, especially when playing away from home and there was naturally a little more pressure after three Serie A games in which we didn't do that well," Allegri told Sport Mediaset.

“The lads played well on a technical level, we could've done better with some situations in the first half. We need to improve, but this doesn't change the work we started on July 14.

“Results affect the way your work is judged, but we must do well to retain a balance both in defeat and above all in success."

On Wojciech Szczesny's clean sheet, Allegri continued: “That is a sign too. I told the lads at half-time to end the game without conceding, as it takes away some anxiety. Szczesny did well today, it was important to get this victory, otherwise the winless streak was going to get a bit too long!

“The psychological aspect is 90 per cent of sport, because when you make individual errors like we did so far this season, it makes us see things negatively.

“I told the lads, when we had the chase back to win the Scudetto, we lost to Sassuolo after wasting about eight chances, but in the second half of the season we beat Sassuolo completely against the run of play. That was not a great Juve performance by any means, we played better the first time, but the result makes you see things differently."

Video of the day:

Carlos Volcano
About the author

Carlos Volcano

×

Subscribe and go ad-free

For only $10 a year

  1. Go Ad-Free
  2. Faster site experience
  3. Support great writing
  4. Subscribe now
Launch Offer: 2 months free
×

Subscribe and go ad-free

For only $10 a year

Subscribe now
Launch Offer: 2 months free