Massimiliano Allegri Hails Attitude of His Players as 'Spot On' After 3-0 Victory Against Cagliari

After opening the new Serie A campaign with a convincing 3-0 win, in the first game of the season against Cagliari at the Allianz Arena, Massimiliano Allegri insisted his side's approach was 'spot on' in a routine win to begin their title defence.

Speaking to the official club website after the game, the Italian boss claimed his squad's defensive approach was key in their victory, but indicated more time needed to be spent on the training ground to work on possession, in order to boost their propensity for creating chances in front of goal. 

“When you defend in an orderly manner, you're less likely to allow your opponents shots on goal.," said the Juventus manager. "Likewise, when you're conceding too many goals, it means something's not working.

“All things considered we performed well at both ends of the pitch today. We do need to improve our build-up play though – not just from the back but in all areas of the pitch.”

After early signs of promise in pre-season, Allegri was pleased to get the first win under the belt, knowing full well the effect it will have on the team in the long run, while also reserving a special praise for Croatian striker Mario Mandžukić, who got on the score chart with the first goal of the game.

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“It's good that we've got off on the right foot," added Allegri. "I'd seen lots of good signs before today but when you win matches it helps you train in the right frame of mind. We got our approach spot on today.

“Mario brings physicality to the side both when we're attacking and when we're defending. The whole team benefits from that. He's a hugely important player for us.”

The former AC Milan coach was wary of the VAR system, which was used for the first time to award Cagliari a penalty, stating it will take time to get used to, even if he has one of the world's best goalkeepers between the sticks.

“We'll have to get used to waiting for the decision. In this case it was a penalty against us but fortunately we have the best guy around in goal (Gianluigi Buffon) – he sorts out all sorts of problems for us.”