Juventus' 47-match unbeaten streak came to an end in defeat to Fiorentina on Thursday.">
Juventus manager Max Allegri admitted that Fiorentina "deserved to win" after they became the first visitors to prevail at the Juventus Stadium in nearly two years.
Bayern Munich were the last team to beat Juventus on their home turf in April 2013, but a goal in each half from Mohamed Salah saw Fiorentina take a 2-1 advantage into the second leg of the Coppa Italia semifinals.
"We knew Fiorentina were in fine form and I'd say it was a good first half from both teams," Allegri told Rai Sport. "After the break we lost organisation for about 10 minutes, allowing them two or three chances and conceded on the third.
"We had opportunities to equalise, but Fiorentina played better than we did and deserved to win tonight.
"There is the second leg and we'll try to turn things around. We're aware it won't be easy because Fiorentina are in great form and play very good football."
After using a 3-5-2 formation in Monday's 1-1 draw with Roma, Juventus went back to a 4-3-3 system, and Allegri defended his choice.
"The Juventus squad was constructed three years ago for a different system. We changed this term, but still go back to the old tactic sometimes," the manager said.
"People forget we had a lot of injury problems with Barzagli, Pirlo, Asamoah and Romulo, so some players had to be there all the time. That's why sometimes we play with three midfielders, sometimes two, as we hope to allow them rest.
"We used up a lot of psychological and physical energy on Monday against Roma. We lost this game, but we can turn it around in the second leg."
Fiorentina broke through with a piece of individual magic from Salah, who broke with the ball from within his own half and scored after reaching the opposite box, and Allegri said no amount of planning could have stopped the Chelsea loanee.
"We conceded one goal with a man who ran 70 metres ball-to-feet. That's not a tactical issue," Allegri said.
Allegri also defended the play of star midfielder Paul Pogba
"Any player over 40-50 games per season will have moments of fatigue, let alone a 22-year-old who has a lot to learn on how to control games and pace himself throughout 90 minutes," Allegri said.
"I always tell him technique isn't enough, he needs to put in a certain type of performance. Youngsters are going to have peaks and troughs, as did Alvaro Morata, on their way to maturity."
Allegri said Kingsley Coman, who came off for Carlos Tevez in the first half, was due to come off earlier, but stayed on for an extra 10 minutes when trying to run off an injury.
"In those 10 minutes he contributed to our goal by passing it out wide. He was doing well in difficult circumstances," Allegri said.
"This result must make us think and focus on the next game. The Serie A season is not over, despite what many people seem to say. Europe is a dream and we've got the second leg at Borussia Dortmund, then the second leg of the Coppa Italia semifinal."
