He keeps updating the Serie A record books with his incredible achievements at Juventus, but now coach Massimiliano Allegri hopes to leave the Bianconeri mark also on the European stage, as they keep pursuing the Champions League trophy which they have only come close to in the last few seasons.
"The real Champions League starts in March - Allegri said to La Gazzetta dello Sport, after winning the 'Panchina d'oro', an award given to the best manager in Italy by other managers - For now we have to go through to the knock-out stages. In my opinion we have been ready to win this trophy for years now, since we lost in the final against Barcelona. We have improved compared to the Barça and Real games in the final. We are now aware of our strength in Europe and we live the competition with less stress. That's important but there are many teams that can win the trophy. We lost against Manchester United and from that game we learned that we must never lose our identity. Being a joy to watch on the pitch it's not the most important thing in football, being effective is. That's why we should always have the desire to improve ourselves".
Allegri also commented the Scudetto race, with his team trailed by Napoli and, at a further distance by Inter: "You say that we have already won the Scudetto, but it's wrong. We want to win our 8th league in a row, that's obvious, but we have not won anything yet. Ancelotti's Napoli are a real contender, and also Inter are, even though Spalletti doesn't want to hear about it. They keep hiding but the Nerazzurri are in the race too".
Finally, the coach left the door open to a possible future abroad: "It would be a nice experience for me. For now, however, I hope to stay at Juventus for a long time. There's a strong club backing me up, one that can successfully plan the present and the future. The national team? Of course I'd like to coach Italy, but not now. Mancini is doing a great job, that could be the last act of my career. There's still time, everything must come at the right time".
