Allegri says Juve’s match at Spezia a ‘relegation six-pointer’

Milan (AFP) – Massimiliano Allegri said on Tuesday that Juventus’ visit to Spezia was a relegation battle as his team head into their fifth league match of the season without a win and in the Serie A drop zone.

Juve’s 1-1 home draw with AC Milan on Sunday night left them 18th with just two points, some 10 away from league leaders Napoli, and a livid Allegri was filmed storming down the Allianz Stadium tunnel shouting “and they want to play for Juventus” about his players.

They travel to Spezia on Wednesday two points behind their hosts and looking to get their season going before the visit of European champions Chelsea next week.

“Looking at the table right now Spezia v Juventus is a relegation six-pointer… we need to be realistic, we can’t talk about our goals as it stands,” Allegri told reporters.

The 54-year-old described his post-match outburst as “normal” after another disappointing display from Juve who fell back after taking an early lead against Milan and could have even lost the match, repeating a pattern of second-half collapses.

“After the break against Milan the same thing happened, we made mistakes when there was no pressure,” said Allegri, back at Juve this season after winning five straight league titles there between 2015 and 2019.

“There’s no point talking about the past, this is a different Juventus team.”

Allegri added that Italy forward Federico Chiesa would make his second league start of the season, while Matthijs de Ligt would definitely start in defence after revealing Giorgio Chiellini has a fever.