Max Allegri admits Juventus “annulled the extra man advantage” in their hard-fought 2-1 Coppa Italia win over Milan.
The Bianconeri pushed past Milan 2-1 in the quarter-final with Paulo Dybala’s volley and a Miralem Pjanic free kick, though Carlos Bacca created a tense finale despite Manuel Locatelli seeing red.
Max Allegri admits Juventus “annulled the extra man advantage” in their hard-fought 2-1 Coppa Italia win over Milan.
The Bianconeri pushed past Milan 2-1 in the quarter-final with Paulo Dybala’s volley and a Miralem Pjanic free kick, though Carlos Bacca created a tense finale despite Manuel Locatelli seeing red.
“I wouldn’t say we suffered in the second half. We know from so many games this season that Milan never say die, no matter the result they always keep pushing and playing their football,” the Coach told Rai Sport.
“We had several chances and allowed little at the back, then Dybala went off, we stopped having the extra man between the lines and that became a problem.
“At the end it was 10 against 11, it’s true, but with four strikers we were all on the same line and the extra man didn’t make a difference tactically.
“The extra man advantage was annulled and we annulled it. We misplaced too many passes because we went too deep.
“We won the Coppa Italia the last two years and hope to at least get to the Final again this time.”
For the second match in a row, Allegri started the 4-2-3-1 system with Pjanic, Dybala, Gonzalo Higuain, Mario Mandzukic and Juan Cuadrado together.
“It’s not an issue of the system so much as the attitude. Obviously the forwards have to help out in defence, but they’ve got good legs and quality up there, so it’s entirely possible.
“A lot depends on the characteristics of the game, of the players I want to use and those at my disposal. If everyone is prepared to work hard, more quality on the field can help us.
“At the end tonight we didn’t defend very well because we stopped keeping hold of the ball.
“Milan just created a few situations that could’ve been dangerous towards the end with their tackles. Bacca’s goal came out of nowhere and they didn’t really have any other chances apart from Gerard Deulofeu at the end with a good run.”