Allegri upbeat despite Dortmund defeat

Massimiliano Allegri was not too despondent despite Juventus losing their opening match of pre-season 2-0 to Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.

Allegri gave first outings to Mario Mandzukic, Paulo Dybala and Neto in the friendly encounter in Switzerland, but they were unable to stop Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Marco Reus sealing the win.

With Dortmund well into their preparations for the new Bundesliga campaign, Juventus looked sluggish at times but Allegri was not overly concerned and is convinced the Serie A champions’ fortunes will quickly improve.

“Obviously it is never pleasing to lose, but we knew that we would encounter difficulties this evening because Borussia Dortmund are much further ahead in terms of pre-season preparation,” he told Sky Sport Italia.

“We must find our balance and lost the ball too many times coming out of defence. We must get our heads back in the game and try to be more focused.

“It was a good training session, aside from the result.

“We will find our fitness levels with time. We did some good things today and could’ve been better in controlling the ball, but we didn’t have the legs to keep up with Borussia Dortmund.”

Meanwhile, Dortmund head coach Thomas Tuchel was delighted with the effort from his side as they prepare for their UEFA Europa League third round qualifier with Wolfsberger on Thursday.

He said: “We have played a very good game. I am very satisfied.

“We have reached an intermediate objective, nothing more, [but] we are on the way.”