Allegri: Juventus deserved their defeat at Napoli

Juventus had been more than lucky during their eight-game winning streak, where they had not conceded even once. They paid for all that karma and luck in buckets tonight as league leaders Napoli showed they are indeed the only Scudetto contenders this season with a 5-1 thrashing of the Bianconeri.

Massimiliano Allegri’s side had an opportunity to pull four points back from the Partenopei with a win, but instead conceded early and often and were unable to take advantage of the few scoring chances they had, particularly in the first half. Victor Osimhen’s man of the match saw him grab two and set up another, while Khvicha Kvaratskhelia rounded off his recent performances with two assists and a goal for himself as well.

Luciano Spalletti’s side were always going to be the more dominant side, but Juve looked to be doing as well as they could and really should have gone into the break on level terms. However, in the second half, the Neapolitans picked up the pace and left the Bianconeri on their doorstep with several quick goals.

Speaking after the match, Allegri was quick to praise the league leaders.

“First of all, we have to congratulate Napoli for their performance. We were a little short of energy when we faced all the goals, we were very deep for the first 20 minutes and then we conceded the second goal as we were pushing forward.

“We had chances and the feeling that we could score, but this is football and every time Napoli had a shot, it could have been a goal. Just look at the third goal when it was an uncut corner.

“There is a long way to go and a lot of points to grab, so we have to work and look forward.”

The last time Juve lost by this scoreline was against Pescara in 1993, and ironically it was Allegri with a brace in that game.

“This was a well-deserved loss because we entered the game with less energy. The situations we accepted were also quite easy to read and predict, but sometimes luck is on your side and sometimes not. We tried to turn it towards half-time, but Napoli thoroughly deserved it.

“That doesn’t mean we have to let our heads drop because we can be proud of the eight wins in a row and we have to get back on track in Serie A and the Coppa Italia.”

The coach was asked about his comments about the low energy, especially since in previous games Juve had shown they could score late on.

“When you make mistakes like that against an opponent like Napoli, you will be punished. They are the leaders and deserve their current position.

“We have to keep working, improving and trying to bring back the injured players. All negative situations have positives, as we reacted well in the first half, even though the ball was not falling kindly for us tonight.

“There is no need to despair, as we did not after eight consecutive victories. It’s a loss and we continue.”

Federico Chiesa made his first start since returning from his ACL injury, but playing on the wing against a rampant Napoli side meant he was back for much of the contest.

“We went very deep with Chiesa and Kostic, after a few minutes I realized we had to change the positions of McKennie and Chiesa to push him forward. When things go wrong like they did with all those goals, the ball doesn’t fall well and it’s also our fault that we don’t have the same energy as Napoli.”