Juventus Sticking With Allegri Despite Champions League, Serie A Woes

Juventus’s manager won’t pay the price just yet for a season that’s been brutal both in league and Champions League play.

ROME (AP) — All but eliminated from the Champions League. Struggling with only three wins in nine Serie A matches. Beset by injuries to three star players.

Not much more could go wrong for Juventus entering Saturday’s derby against Torino.

The biggest problem for the record 36-time Italian champion, though, seems to be its reliance on an antiquated style of play under its defensive-oriented coach, Massimiliano Allegri.

Yet after a humiliating 2-0 Champions League loss at Maccabi Haifa on Tuesday, Juventus president Andrea Agnelli said the club is sticking with Allegri.

“In a situation like this, it’s not about one person,” Agnelli said. “It’s a matter to be dealt with by a whole group. We feel ashamed, we apologize to our fans, because we know they must feel ashamed to walk around right now.

“Allegri is the coach of Juventus and he will remain the coach of Juventus.”

Allegri is in his second stint at Juventus after leading the club to five straight Serie A titles from 2015-19. Last season in his first year back, Allegri barely qualified Juventus for the Champions League with a fourth-place finish. What was more telling, however, were the number of goals scored last term (57) — significantly fewer than champion AC Milan (69), second-placed Inter Milan (84), third-placed Napoli (74) and even fifth-placed Lazio (77).

The trend has continued this season, with Juve’s 12 goals the joint-least among the top eight clubs along with José Mourinho’s Roma.

With Federico Chiesa, Paul Pogba and, again, Ángel Di María injured, Juventus has struggled to set up Dušan Vlahović at center forward.

Juventus was also held scoreless in a 2-0 defeat at AC Milan last weekend, leaving the Bianconeri in eighth place.

“I feel ashamed for what is happening. I am angry,” Agnelli said. “But I also know that soccer is played with 11 men, you lose and win with 11.”

Allegri’s preferred style of scoring one or two goals and then defending an advantage comes in sharp contrast to the Serie A leader. First-placed Napoli under Luciano Spalletti is scoring by the busload with a free-flowing attacking style.

While second-placed Atalanta hasn’t been quite as offensive as in the recent past, it’s still coached by Gian Piero Gasperini, under whom the Bergamo squad produced a whopping 98 goals a couple of years ago.

Third-placed Lazio under Maurizio Sarri prizes a quick passing game that has come to be known as “Sarriball.” And fourth-placed Milan under Stefano Pioli also pours forward consistently with its young team always looking for the goal.

Recent coaching changes at other clubs have made immediate impacts, highlighted by Pioli’s hiring at Milan early in the 2019-20 campaign and the appointment of former Juventus player Raffaele Palladino at Monza.

Monza stunned Juventus 1-0 last month in Palladino’s debut to earn Silvio Berlusconi’s club its first ever win in the top division — and is now on a three-game winning streak.

So perhaps Juventus is reluctant to fire Allegri because of his hefty 7 million euro ($6.8 million) salary and four-year contract — especially considering that the club just reported a record financial loss.

“No, no, you are completely off track here,” Agnelli told Sky Italia. “It cannot be the fault of the coach if we don’t win a single tackle on the field.

“Juventus have always evaluated situations at the end of the year. I always struggled to consider a dismissal during a season and I continue to believe that,” Agnelli added. “This is a group of 80-90 people working here and we must rediscover our spirit, allowing the team to put its qualities onto the pitch.”