Allegri on Ronaldo: Juventus will be taking on Atletico Madrid in the round of 16 of the Champions League.
Juventus are at the top of the Serie A at the moment. The side is a massive eleven points ahead of the second-placed Napoli.
However, the Turin-based outfit suffered a setback earlier this week as they faced a stunning 3-0 loss to Atalanta in the quarterfinal of Coppa Italia.
This was Juventus’ first domestic loss this season, who started a strong team in the game with Cristiano Ronaldo and Paolo Dybala up-front.
As their manager Massimiliano Allegri interacted with the media ahead of the side’s Serie A game against Parma this weekend, he reflected on his side’s form and had a cheeky request to UEFA.
Allegri on Ronaldo:
The Juventus manager denied that the loss indicated a crisis in the club.
“Football is simpler than we want to imply,” said Allegri. “We won in Rome with Lazio, we lost the same match in Bergamo, apart from the fact that we gave away goals on our own.
“With all the merits of Atalanta. It is not that there are problems or that there is a crisis. In Rome, we made 50 chances and in Bergamo, it was very equal. Then in Rome we went well because we did not suffer the defeat.”
He proceeded to talk about the club’s chances in the Champions League and had a hilarious request for UEFA.
The club is expected to perform better in the European competition this season with the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo, but Allegri had a different opinion on it.
“We need luck and Cristiano Ronaldo doesn’t necessarily mean Champions League,” Allegri stated.
“Football is not as easy as doing 1+1, we are not playing Play Station. We have to work hard, winning is not normal, [it] is something special.
With the rising expectations from Juventus in the Champions League after the signing of Ronaldo, Allegri funnily requested UEFA to give them a direct spot in the final of the competition.
“Everybody criticises Juve but Real Madrid won four Champions League and one La Liga in the last six years. We won seven Serie A titles in a row. People think we have already reached the Champions League final.
“I’ll ask Uefa if we can directly play the final, I don’t understand why they don’t let us do it!”
The manager insisted that the competition in Europe is difficult and ‘7-8 teams’ are worthy of a spot in the semifinals.
“When I arrived here people were worried that we couldn’t beat Malmoe. I was sure we could reach the Champions League final.
“In Europe there are 7-8 teams that can play the semi-finals. Trouble is, only four clubs can do it. And two reach the final.”
