Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri has taken aim at his players for conceding two goals in the final eight minutes of their Serie A clash against Genoa.
Juventus took the lead through Paulo Dybala in the 48th minute but conceded two goals at the death to end the game as 2-1 losers.
The win for Genoa took them up to 18th on the Serie A table, giving them hope of avoiding relegation this season.
I am angry and disappointed - Allegri
In Allegri's post-match interview with Sky Italia as reported by Football Italia, the Juventus manager admitted that he was not just angry but also disappointed that his team lost the game.
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Allegri noted that the Italian giants should have killed off the game with a second goal and he noted that his team was punished for squandering so many chances to do that.
Allegri said: "More than angry, I am disappointed not to win a game that was on the right track. We should’ve scored a second goal and didn’t.
"We only had counter-attacking players and it was end-to-end stuff. When you waste so many chances, you are going to be punished.
“The thing we really need to work on, although admittedly the characteristics of the players aren’t suited to it, is that once we had to take off Arthur, Minetti, and Dybala, we didn’t have any player who could dictate the tempo and slow the moves down.
Allegri praises Vlahovic for technical improvement
The Juventus manager also defended Dusan Vlahovic despite the striker failing to score. Allegri believed that fatigue from playing so many games might be catching up to the striker.
“This was one of Vlahovic’s best games on a technical level. I am very pleased with the way he played with his technique," the Juventus manager said.
"I tried to explain it before, but I was attacked as if I was the one ruining Vlahovic. He hasn’t played that many Serie A games and we need to find a balance here. Maybe he didn’t realise it was a good performance.
"I think next season we will see a definite improvement in terms of how he balances out the tempo of his performance, learning that he hasn’t failed if he doesn’t score a goal, there’s more to it.”
We cannot make mistakes against Inter Milan - Allegri on Coppa Italia Final
With Champions League football already secured for next season, the Italian manager was quick to move on from the defeat at Genoa, instead turning his attention to next week's Coppa Italia final against Inter Milan.
Allegri had given early baths to key players like Juan Cuadrado, Vlahovic, and Dybala with an eye on the silverware up for grabs next week.
Allegri admitted: "I am sad to lose, but in terms of the table, at least it didn’t make much difference. Now we have the Coppa Italia and absolutely cannot make the same mistakes there.
“Arthur had been out for a while, Cuadrado was just coming back and had an hour in his legs, so we had to try to balance the playing time and reach Wednesday in the best condition.”
Allegri will hope to get one back over Inter after losing the Italian Supercup to the defending league champions in January courtesy of a dramatic 121st-minute goal from Alexis Sanchez.