Allegri frustrated with Juventus

Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri was left annoyed after his team could only draw against Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League - a win would have qualified Juventus for the knock-out stage of the competition, but now they will have to wait for the next match in order to try and secure their place in the next round.

Juventus struggled against Sporting Lisbon, and it was more the manner that the team performed that caused the manager to be frustrated.

The Italian team is currently second in their group behind Barcelona and will have to win their last game if they want to make it to the next round. Allegri’s team reached the final last season which they lost against Real Madrid and will be hoping that they could at least replicate this performance again this campaign.

However, they will first have to make it out of the group stage, and Massimiliano Allegri was furious with the performance of his players as he feels that this was a great opportunity for them to qualify for the knock-out stage. Whilst fans in England could take up exclusive football offers at Askfans.co.uk to get odds of 10/1 on Sporting Lisbon causing an upset, very few pundits ever expected them to be able to do it.

After the match Allegri admitted that it was a shame as they could have qualified from this match and now they will have to play in more tough games in order to qualify for the next round - this would have been a great opportunity to rest key players and also allow them to play without pressure.

The Juventus coach said that it was a poor first half from his team and that he was expecting more from them. He said that his players were late on every tackle and they allowed Sporting Lisbon to play with so much confidence and leisure on the ball. The worst thing is that there was not even a reaction from his players when they went behind after conceding the first goal. They just continued to play at the same pace and did not appear to be interested in winning the game.

However, he admitted that the team did improve after the break and the changes that he made to the team allow Juventus to take control of the game and get the equalizing goal. However, the team became again complacent and did not try to win the game. He said that the game was a winnable one and that it was up to the players to deliver the goods.

"Conceding early in the first half gave us enough time to turn the match around, but the players did not seize the opportunity. This was more a mental problem than a tactical one and this has to change if they want to win trophies in Europe. The team needs to be under pressure in order to respond, but this is not always possible. This time we could only salvage a draw, but against the better sides they could have tasted defeat."

Juventus will finish their Champions League group stage in a game away to Olympiacos, who they have already beaten at home. If they play as they did in the match against Sporting Lisbon, they will have no chance of qualification.