Allegri, Juventus and the Champions League comeback plan – Corriere.it

Max knows how to do it. In the 2015-2016 season, that of the second of five consecutive championships with Juventus, Allegri was the protagonist of an epochal comeback: on 28 October, after the defeat at Sassuolo on the tenth matchday, Juve were 11 points behind leaders Roma . In the end he won the Scudetto with 9 points over Napoli. This time the music is different. Above all, the goal is different. The championship in the hands of Spalletti. But the Livornese has a wonderful idea in mind: to go to the Champions League despite the boulder of the penalty. A run-up that seemed impossible after the sting and the pale reaction of the bianconeri, stopped by Atalanta and defeated by Monza. On the twentieth day, the first of the second round, the Lady had plummeted to thirteenth place 15 points from fourth. Now, after 4 victories in a row, the points behind have become 10 and he has overtaken Fiorentina, Monza, Turin and Udinese.

The Allegri specialist doesn’t make weekly tables, which is not the way he intends to keep the players glued to the reality of the championship, but he is looking towards the final goal. 73 points are needed to reach the finish line, he said after the derby win against Turin. Counts in hand would miss 38 in 14 games, which means being condemned to win almost always. So, it’s better to work on the group’s self-esteem, remembering the standings almost every day in the locker room without the cleaver from the court: Juve would be second, behind the impregnable Napoli, but ahead of the discontinuous Milanese and Roman teams. And if at the press conference he says that 10 points to recover is a lot, he tells his disciples another truth, that nothing is impossible and that Juventus can win with everyone.

The work, in this winter stingy with satisfactions, was more psychological than technical. No longer the Juve of the BBC with Buffon, Barzagli and Chiellini who held the group in hand and the uncertainty of tomorrow weighs heavily because the trials are not finished and the ranking risks being distorted. Allegri’s task is to make his men understand that they have to live every match as if it were their last and that the comeback in the league must be accompanied by the dream of winning the Coppa Italia and the Europa League. Max restored the team’s confidence, motivated it and made it less fragile. Now he trusts in the total recovery of his champions: Di Maria after the reborn World Cup, Chiesa and Vlahovic have put their injuries behind them and Pogba is back after 315 days. The black clouds haven’t disappeared, but Juve have the soul to go further. A step at a time. Starting with the trip to the Olimpico against Mourinho.