Juventus Coach Max Allegri says Napoli “played well” with Real Madrid, and defends Maurizio Sarri.

The Partenopei were beaten 3-1 at the Bernabeu last night, with President Aurelio De Laurentiis criticising Sarri after the match.

With the Bianconeri due to return to Champions League action on Wednesday, Allegri was asked for his opinion of this week’s Last 16 ties.

Juventus Coach Max Allegri says Napoli “played well” with Real Madrid, and defends Maurizio Sarri.

The Partenopei were beaten 3-1 at the Bernabeu last night, with President Aurelio De Laurentiis criticising Sarri after the match.

With the Bianconeri due to return to Champions League action on Wednesday, Allegri was asked for his opinion of this week’s Last 16 ties.

“First of all I enjoyed them a lot,” the Juve boss said in his pre-Palermo Press conference.

“When you see these games there are always some tips you can take from them, things you can put into practice and learn.

“The two Champions League days were good ones, there was absolute technical quality in the players and in the teams.

“It proved that Paris Saint-Germain are a top team, physically and technically they’re on the top level. I didn’t think they’d beat Barcelona so heavily, but they always had the potential to beat them.

“As for yesterday, compliments to Napoli for the game they played, it wasn’t easy to play against Madrid, especially for Napoli who don’t have a lot of international experience.

“So they had a good game against a Real Madrid side which has players of the highest technical level. You just have to look at [Luka] Modric, with three passes out wide he put the ball at [Cristiano] Ronaldo’s feet.

“That wasn’t about pressure, tactics or technique, just the technique of individual players and it’s beautiful to see. But Napoli played a good match.

“De Laurentiis? First of all, I’ll never spout off about what a President can and can’t say.

“One thing I will say and repeat is that Sarri deserves compliments for the work he’s doing in Naples and for yesterday’s game because Napoli aren’t beaten yet, they have the opportunity to overturn the result at home.

“I repeat, Napoli played a good game, a top game, all things considered. They faced Real Madrid, and that’s important European experience.”

Are Juventus on the level of Madrid, PSG and Bayern Munich?

“No, we have to improve. Definitely on a mental level we have to be up there with Real, Paris, Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

“Some people had doubts about Bayern Munich this year and thought they wouldn’t progress, in fact they’ll do it very calmly as the Germans are always hard to beat. They have character and technical quality.

“Juventus need to improve. I think this is the time where we have to push hard to improve the quality of our play and the speed of our passing, partly because we have excellent players and that’s why we have to improve on this, because only the team can take us forward in Europe.

“Just look at the level of Real Madrid yesterday and the difficulties Napoli encountered.”

Bygaby

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Tickets Kit Collector