Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri laments a “wasted opportunity” after coming close in the final stages of the narrow 2-1 loss to PSG in their Champions League group stage game
Massimiliano Allegri believes Juventus “missed an opportunity” against PSG when they suffered a narrow 2-1 defeat in their Champions League opener.
Kylian Mbappe scored twice for the French giants to put them 2-0 ahead before substitute Weston McKennie’s header pulled one back in the 53rd minute to give the Serie A side a fighting chance.
Dusan Vlahovic’s header was scraped out by goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to deny The Old Lady a comeback at Le Parc des Princes.
PSG striker Kylian Mbappe scored a brace in his side’s 2-1 win over Juventus
Weston McKennie’s pounding header scored a goal for the visitors in the 53rd minute
The veteran manager was disappointed not to get a result against PSG given his chance late in the game, while also explaining why he played out of position against McKennie.
“We played a good game, it’s a missed chance, we had to be clearer in the last few minutes,” Allegri told Canale 5 of Football Italia.
“We had to create more chances on the left, we didn’t do it enough. We could have been dangerous in those situations with McKennie on the right. We have to improve, it’s a wasted opportunity.’
Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri (pictured) was disappointed not to get a result against PSG
Dusan Vlahovic played the entire game and was frustrated by a second-half save by Gigio Donnarumma as the Bianconeri were 2-1 down.
“Vlahovic played well, we know we need to improve and we’re working on it.
“We are waiting for some players to return, which is good for Juventus.
“Sometimes we took risks, they have the fastest strikers in the world, but we defended better in the second half and we need to keep improving.”
Dusan Vlahovic’s header was scraped out by Gianluigi Donnarumma to deny them an equaliser
The Italian felt his side struggled with PSG’s pace in the first half but rectified things in the second half.
“It’s difficult when you don’t have the ball, sometimes we got distracted in the first half. We had more courage in the second half. We played well, but we have to be annoyed about the result,” Allegri said.
“We wanted to be more aggressive, Lionel Messi and Neymar play very well when they come deep to collect the ball, so it was difficult to catch them and we had to slow down a bit.
“We have a couple of players out there with certain physical and technical qualities. I had to adjust McKennie on the right.’
PSG are level on three points in Group H with Benfica, who beat Maccabi Haifa 2-0, while Juve are pointlessly heading for a clash with Benfica next week.
