'Allegri never in doubt' – Nedved defends under-pressure Juventus head coach

By Sports Desk October 05, 2022

Massimiliano Allegri's position as Juventus head coach has "never been even slightly in doubt," according to Bianconeri vice-chairman Pavel Nedved.

Juve have endured a poor start to the 2022-23 campaign; they already trail early Serie A pacesetters Napoli and Atalanta by seven points after eight games. 

The Bianconeri also lost their opening two Group H matches in the Champions League, with Allegri describing Wednesday's visit of Maccabi Haifa as a "must win" following a pair of 2-1 defeats against Paris Saint-Germain and Benfica.

Although, they do have momentum after Sunday's 3-0 victory over Bologna ended a five-game winless streak across all competitions.

And Nedved insists everyone is focused on turning the club's fortunes around.

"I don't know why it is difficult for us in the Champions League," he told Sky Sport Italia prior to Wednesday's game.

"We are doing everything, the club, coach, staff and players, to get us back on track, to play Juve-style games that can get us through to the next round and recover in Serie A. That is our objective.

"The coach has never been even slightly in doubt, I want to make that clear. There was more confidence after the win, but we have also had very few training sessions, very few, so we will discover the form of the team as we go forward."

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    Juve had seen their 2-0 lead over Lazio from the first leg wiped out by a double from Valentin Castellanos.

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    The visitors were first on the attack and Filip Kostic’s blocked shot ricocheted to the feet of Andrea Cambiaso, whose low drive flew inches wide.

    But it was Lazio who took the lead on the night, and halved the deficit on aggregate, after 12 minutes.

    Luis Alberto swung in a corner and Castellanos got up above Alex Sandro at the far post and buried his header past Mattia Perin.

    The two goalscorers from the first leg, Dusan Vlahovic and Federico Chiesa, almost combined to equalise.

    Chiesa teed up Vlahovic to prod home from close range but his effort was saved by Christos Mandas.

    Juve midfielder Manuel Locatelli was dealt a personal blow when he was booked for a foul on Nicolo Casale which means he will miss the final.

    Castellanos should have levelled the tie two minutes before half-time when he found himself one-on-one with Perin.

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    Vlahovic was denied a goal by a stunning piece of last-ditch defending by Adam Marusic, who slid in to block as the striker looked certain to tap in Weston McKennie’s pull-back.

    But Massimiliano Allegri’s substitutions had an immediate effect after Timothy Weah’s cross-shot was tapped in at the far post by Milic with seven minutes to go to send the 14-time winners through.

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    Broad, 37, announced he was retiring from cricket during the fifth Ashes Test last summer and bowed out in spectacular fashion.

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    He came second in the public vote for the BBC’s 2023 Sports Personality of the Year in December and has been focusing on fatherhood and television punditry.

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