MY ACCOUNT
Juventus head coach Massimiliano Allegri is not angry with his side, despite slumping to the club’s worst-ever Champions League defeat in their 4-0 drubbing at the hands of titleholders Chelsea.
Tuesday’s rout was Juve’s record Champions League defeat, and second worst in the European Cup/Champions League overall, behind a 7-0 loss to Wiener Sport-Club in October 1958.
It was also the first time Juventus lost by four goals in any competition in 17 years, dating back to February 2004 in a 4-0 Serie A defeat to rivals Roma.
Allegri’s Juve had already qualified for the Champions League last 16, with Chelsea moving above them in Group H while clinching their own passage into the knockout stage.
Chelsea led 1-0 at the break from Trevor Chalobah’s 25th-minute strike, before piling on three second-half goals via Reece James, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Timo Werner.
“I’m not angry with the lads, but we had to play better in the second half,” Allegri told reporters in London.
“[Dejan] Kulusevski went to the dentist yesterday, he had a problem and wasn’t in any condition to start today. [Paulo] Dybala only had 30 minutes in his legs. But no excuses, we know that we have to play better than in the second half.”
Chelsea registered 21 shots to Juventus’ eight, including eight to two on target, despite a relative advantage with 55 percent of possession.
Allegri took comfort in Juventus having already secured qualification for the last 16, along with their 1-0 reverse fixture victory over Chelsea.
“We are disappointed with the four goals we conceded but our objective, which was qualification, has been achieved,” he said.
“There were times when we lost possession trying to get forward immediately, when we had to keep the ball more.
“In Turin, we were attentive to the defensive aspect of our game for 90 minutes, but today we only did it for 45, then gave up. We know what our strengths and weaknesses are. Even after evenings like this, we will improve.”
He added: “Chelsea are a great team, they are European champions… Today, we had a good first half, but we were punished in the second.”
Juventus, who have 12 points from five games along with leaders Chelsea, will finish their group phase at home to Malmo while the Blues go to Zenit.
