Allegri pleased with miserly Juventus

– Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri (left) was delighted his side were involved in their first 0-0 draw of the season in midweek and is looking forward to the chance to finally coach his players.

Allegri had become alarmed at the way his team’s previously impregnable defence had been shipping goals after last Sunday’s 3-2 defeat by Sampdoria in Serie A.

But Wednesday’s 0-0 stalemate at home to Barcelona in the Champions League, though dull, had the coach purring, especially as he had to field an improvised defence after Giorgio Chiellini pulled out with a thigh injury.

It was only the second time in their last 10 games that Juventus had kept a clean sheet, a worrying statistic for a team who last term made a habit of grinding out 1-0

Milan

and 2-0 wins and conceded only 27 goals in 38 Serie A games.

There was always a risk they would struggle this term after the breakup of the so-called BBC defence – Andrea Barzagli, Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci – which had been together since 2010 and helped Juve win the last six Serie A titles.

Bonucci, one of Europe’s top defenders, left for AC Milan in the sumer, leaving Allegri to reshuffle the pieces.

Juventus, third in Serie A, are four points behind leaders Napoli, though they could cut the gap as they host lowly Crotone tomorrow while their rivals have a tougher match at Genoa.

Juve have no midweek game next week and can prepare for the Napoli showdown on December 1. – Reuters