Football
Ben Gladwell, Italy correspondent 7y

Juventus' Max Allegri on AC Milan reaction: Italy 'on the verge of lunacy'

Juventus cannot start planning ahead for the quarterfinals of the Champions League just yet, according to their coach Massimiliano Allegri, who at the same time does not want to look back on what he says has been a needlessly controversial few days.

The Bianconeri lead Porto 2-0 heading into the second leg of their round-of-16 tie at the Juventus Stadium on Tuesday night. With many in Italy assuming that the tie is already over, more column inches have thus been dedicated to Juve's win over AC Milan on Friday night, and in particularly the way that victory matured.

A 97th-minute penalty from Paulo Dybala ensured Juve won their 31st straight league game on home soil, but questions have been raised about whether or not the penalty should have been given. Milan's reaction to the defeat has also made the headlines, but Allegri says Italians are getting it all wrong as he tried to shift the focus towards Tuesday.

"Italian football needs to move in a different direction because we're certainly not setting a good example," Allegri said at a news conference on Monday.

"You've got to have a lot of respect and be educated, above all for the sake of children, who see what happens. What happened on Friday was the latest in a line of things happening in Serie A, so if we want to go in a different direction, we have got to do things differently.

"We need to learn how to accept defeats, which seems hard in Italy. Friday was a great game with one team who deserved to win, which is Juventus, against a team who are doing well this season, but the 17 points between the two teams before the game and the 20 after are a fair indication.

"In 28 games we have won 23 and drawn one, sadly losing four, so we cannot be criticised as a team. People only remember things that go against their team, not what goes for them. We're on the verge of lunacy in Italy. People go to the stadium not to watch the game, but to find something to talk about."

By the same measure, Allegri expects there to be plenty hoping to see his team slip up like Paris Saint-Germain did against Barcelona, when their place in the last eight seemed secure.

He has therefore warned that his team need to treat it like a regular league game, without considering the advantage they already have in the tie.

"There are plenty of risks, above all because nothing can be taken for granted in football," Allegri said. "Porto are going to play a great game tomorrow and they proved they can play games like this by beating Roma, so we're going to have to be at our best and treat this like a single game, not considering the first leg but trying to win this one game.

"I showed my players how Porto played at Roma [in the Champions League playoff], because that is how I believe Porto will play here. It's not an easy game for us and we have to go out there to win it."

Allegri would take even a 1-0 win, saying that his side do not need to send out any messages to the likes of Barcelona and Bayern Munich, who turned on the style in their last-16 encounters.

"The only fireworks we want to see are in the final," he said. "All that matters tomorrow is going through and taking the game seriously, which the lads will do."

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