After losing to Genoa, Juventus returned to victory by defeating Gasperini’s Atalanta 3-1, and have momentarily extended their Serie A lead to seven points. “It was a good game. We interpreted it well by showing the right amount of intensity,” stated Massimiliano Allegri in an interview with Sky Sport. “Pjanic? He has more liberty in that position. Then we must learn how to play better with our instinct, and when Dybala returns, we will have an important player who will give us more options. The same applies to Pjaca. I am happy for what the players did today. We have managed to recover well after Genoa seeing that we played very poorly for 30 minutes.”
Wednesday the Champions League returns: “Working an entire week means that you can work on the physical aspects of your game, and give a system with many different ideas for the team to work with. The attackers? They played a good game. Mandzukic? He must always play like tonight. He brings quality as well as energy. If he stays still too much, he can struggle. He is an extraordinary player of great stature who provides a specific presence for the team. He is a generous player who always sacrifices himself for his teammates. His knee only suffered a knock; I feared for worse. If Mandzukic and Higuain always play like they did tonight, then we can even play with three upfront and with a more robust midfield. We worked hard this week. Wednesday we must think to defeat Dinamo in order to achieve first place in our group. These are tricky matches that must be confronted in the best way. However, we certainly have time to work prior to the match on Wednesday. We will have to make the most out of our matches again Torino and Roma. First we must defeat Dinamo, and then we will consider Torino.”
