Allegri delighted as disciplined Juventus prove title mettle

Massimiliano Allegri was more pleased by Juventus’ ability to grind out a 1-0 victory over Genoa than their new club record for consecutive wins in Serie A.

A deflected Juan Cuadrado cross after half an hour earned Juve the points in Turin on Wednesday as the champions remained two points off leaders Napoli thanks to their record-breaking 13th straight league win.

While Allegri played down the record, the Juve boss was delighted to negotiate a close-fought encounter made more difficult by Simone Zaza’s late red card for a poor challenge on Armando Izzo.

“There are 15 rounds to go and we need to put together a certain number of victories, whether they are in a row or not is irrelevant,” he told Mediaset Premium of the record.

“The match was hard and to win Scudetti you have to come through these dirty games and win. We came from a game where everything came easy and it’s normal that after a game like that you can falter.” 

Zaza was introduced for Morata early in the second half but his dismissal is likely to compound some selection dilemmas for Allegri who saw Patrice Evra and Martin Caceres limp off in either half.

Caceres is to have scans on Thursday after reportedly tearing his Achilles tendon while Evra could also be doubtful for the potentially decisive visit of Napoli in 10 days time.

“Morata might have been frustrated but no more than I was,” Allegri added.

“There are these difficulties without [injured striker Mario] Mandzukic, when you have three guys who are not yet 23 years old. We must make them grow slowly.

“I’m not concerned [by the injuries]. Unfortunately [Stefano] Sturaro took a knock and I have not risked him, [Kwadwo] Asamoah should return on Monday.

“[Sami] Khedira and Mandzukic are to be evaluated but we hope to have them back for Napoli. Caceres is a great lad and a great defender. We’ll see what the tests say but hopefully it’s less serious than he thinks.

“We’ll try to get to Naples at most two points behind.”