MY ACCOUNT
Massimiliano Allegri is “a complete coach” who has the ability to turn Juventus’ season around, according to midfielder Adrien Rabiot.
Experienced coach Allegri won 11 trophies in his first five-season spell with Juve, but he is under intense pressure a year and a half on from returning to the Allianz Stadium.
Juventus finished fourth in Serie A last season and ended the campaign trophy-less for the first time since the 2010-11 campaign.
The Bianconeri have started this season slow, too, with Saturday’s 2-0 loss to rivals Milan leaving them eighth in the table and already 10 points off top spot after nine matches.
But speaking ahead of Juve’s Champions League tie with Maccabi Haifa on Tuesday, Rabiot gave his backing to the under-fire coach.
“Allegri is a strong coach,” Rabiot, who has started seven matches in all competitions this season, said at Monday’s pre-match press conference.
“He knows how to manage the team, both on the pitch and off it. Not everyone can do that. To me, he is a complete coach, on and off the pitch.”
Juve appeared to have turned a corner with back-to-back wins over Bologna and Haifa, but their loss at San Siro was considered a backward step by Allegri.
They realistically require a victory in Israel if they are to remain in contention for the knockout stages as they trail PSG and Benfica by four points after three matches.
“We have a chance to return to the pitch quickly,” Allegri told reporters. “The previous two wins [before Milan defeat] were misleading and we need to be realistic.
“This is a path we must take. We are facing strong teams, but we know we can’t make certain errors and must avoid making the same mistakes we’ve made all season.
“We are aware of the importance of tomorrow’s match and must fight for every ball, as well as doing the simple things.
“We will put in all our love and passion that Juventus deserves, but we must do more if we are to regain some confidence and return to our previous level.”
Juventus have won all three of their Champions League matches against Haifa, who are on a nine-game losing run in the competition.
However, Juve are winless in three away Champions League matches and risk losing multiple away games in a single group stage for the first time since the 2014-15 season.
“It’s going to be a tough game,” Allegri said. “They showed good things here and played well against PSG. We must be careful, we can’t commit the same mistakes again.
“We must improve and be more solid, which is the easiest and most obvious thing to do. Details make the difference, even just one centimetre. We need attention and passion.”
