The era of Juventus’ dominance in Serie A is over. Just three years ago, the Italian giant won its 9th Scudetto, but things have changed dramatically since. Now, their coach Massimiliano Allegri doesn’t want any additional spotlight or any pressure regarding the championship race. He doesn’t even want to say if his sporting director bought the right players. Totally opposite to everything Juve stood for just a few years back.Manager Massimiliano Allegri speaks about what Juventus need to do to succeed in #SerieA this season.”We must have the enthusiasm and be aware that we need something important to win the title. We must work. I was taught that winning games is what matters.” pic.twitter.com/4q6h7Gan2P— SBOTOP (@sbotopofcl) August 15, 2022 At the start of the new season, which Juventus will open at home against Sassuolo, coach Allegri was happy to announce that the winners of Serie A for the last two seasons, Inter and AC Milan are the favourites this season as well, and also responded that he ‘doesn’t know if his team is better than the last season.“I don’t know if we are stronger, some excellent players left and we’ve replaced them with other excellent players. Milan and Inter signed excellent players; same for Roma, it’s a league with 4-5 contenders for the title, so we must work quietly and improve the team from every perspective” said Allegri at the press conference ahead of the game.Agreed: Depay is coming to JuventusJuve brought Paul Pogba, Angel Di Maria, Filip Kostic and Gleison Bremer so far, and Memphis Depay is expected to sign in the next few days. Allegri didn’t say he needs more players, but his statement that he ‘doesn’t know if the squad is stronger indicates that he is still expecting more players. His close friend and former mentor Giovanni Galeone talked to the Italian papers and he claims that Allegri is not treated as good as other former Juventus coaches and that ne needs more players in order to be competitive.“Are we talking about the Juventus that wants to win the title? Because a team that wants to win and be competitive in Europe should not have problems in meeting the coach’s desires. I argued with Max, I told him that big coaches must pretend to get the players they need. Why do Pep Guardiola and Antonio Conte get what they want and not Allegri?” said Galeone.Your revenge would be so sweet: Morata nails a hat-trick against his former side JuveWith or without new signings, Allegri will miss some players in today’s encounter with Sassuolo. Moise Kean and Adrien Rabiot, (who are also on the transfer list) are both suspended while Wojciech Szczesny, Arthur Melo, Paul Pogba, Federico Chiesa and Kaio Jorge are all sidelined with injuries. Sassuolo coach Alessio Dionisi has no such problems, as only Maxime Lopez and Hamed Junior Traore are out of the picture.SERIE A – MATCHDAY 1SaturdayMilan – Udinese 4-2 (2-2)/Hernandez 11 pen, Rebic 15,68, Diaz 46 – Becao 2, Messina 45+4/Sampdoria – Atalanta 0-2 (0-1)/Toloi 26, Lookman 90+5/Lecce – Inter 1-2 (0-1)/Assan 47 – Lukaku 2, Dumfries 90+4/Monza – Torino 0-1 (0-1)/Miranchuk 43/SundayFiorentina – Cremonese 3-2 (2-1)/Bonaventura 16, Jovic 34, Mandragora 90+5 – Okereke 19, Bianchetti 68/Lazio – Bologna 2-1 (0-1)/De Silvestri 68 og, Immobile 79 – Arnautovic 38 pen/Salernitana – Roma 0-1 (0-1)/Cristante 33/Spezia – Empoli 1-0 (1-0)/Nzola 36/Monday19.30: (3.50) Verona (3.50) Napoli (2.20)21.45: (1.51) Juventus (4.60) Sassuolo (7.50)***odds are subject to change
