Allegri Asks Juventus To Forget Title Chase And Focus On Top Four
Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri has asked his side to focus on securing a place in the Serie A top four rather than mounting a title challenge.
The Bianconeri slipped to eighth position on the table after suffering a 1-0 home defeat to Atalanta on Saturday.
Juventus have already lost five times in the top flight this season and are eleven points behind leaders Napoli, who play on Sunday.
Allegri’s side are also seven points behind Atalanta, who occupy the final Champions League spot.
Allegri told DAZN: "I think it's a very good squad, [although] there are moments when we struggle to score goals.
"But people said at the start that this was the strongest squad that simply had to win the Scudetto, and I always noted that was inaccurate.
"We are here to challenge for the top four. I cannot complain to my players after this performance; I can only congratulate their efforts, then the rest is down to those of you who talk for a living.
"I think we must be realistic. If we are in this position after 14 games, it means this is what we are worth right now. There's a long way to go, but in terms of performance, I only saw us get it really wrong against Verona, Sassuolo and Empoli.
"Once we are realistic, we can take the pressure off and work better in a calmer environment. All we can do is try to get the best out of ourselves.
"We are Juventus and people seem to think that means we must automatically be Scudetto favourites. What we need to do is keep working, try to calm down and score some more goals. At this moment, we are struggling to score and, in my view, it's because we have lost that sense of calm and confidence.
"There's no point thinking of ifs and buts. We have to start from scratch, put everything behind us and be prepared to fight it out on level terms with Salernitana [on Tuesday], then add our quality on top."
