ItalyItalian player Antonio Cassano criticized Juventus and coach Allegri for the defeat in the Europa League semi-final.
"Juventus only had two counter-attacks and two chances from set pieces," Cassano said on May 19 about the progress of the Europa League semi-final second leg. “Juventus has always been like that. They go to the Champions League and look like a bunch of scum. Now they're down in the Europa League, and the same thing happens."
On the Sevilla field on May 18, Juventus took the lead from the 5th minute, but could not keep the advantage. The home team only needed six minutes to equalize. In the fifth minute of the first extra time, Erik Lamela headed home to seal a 65-2 victory for Sevilla. The Spanish team entered the final with the final result 1-3.
Juventus received a goal from Lamela's header (white shirt) in the match against Sevilla on the evening of May 18. Image: Reuters
Regarding the cause of Juventus' failure, Cassano said that coach Allegri was responsible. He said that every time Juventus lost, Allegri blamed others and gave objective reasons. The Italian coach has not won a title since returning to Juventus in 2021. "In the past two years, they have not played a good match," Cassano confirmed.
Regarding Sevilla, Cassano thinks that reaching the Europa League final is a completely deserved result. The former striker praised the way Sevilla controlled the ball when it was difficult. "It was a game of a Spanish team," Cassano said. "From start to finish, there was only one team playing football, Sevilla."
Europa League semi-final second leg: Sevilla 2-1 Juventus.
During his first period in charge of Juventus from 2014 to 2019, Allegri won five Serie A, four Italian Cups, two Italian Super Cups and two Champions League finals. But he has not been successful since returning in 2021. Last season, Juventus only finished second in the Italian Super Cup and the Italian Cup, ranked fourth in Serie A and stopped in the 1/8 round of the Champions League. This season, things are even worse. Juventus stopped right in the Champions League group stage, Europa League semi-final and Italian Cup semi-final.
Allegri's teachers and students are ranked second in Serie A 2022-2023, with 69 points after 35 matches, eight points more than the fifth ranked team AC Milan. But the risk of being pushed out of the Top 4 still exists. Juventus is waiting for the results of the appeal court to hear the financial fraud case. If found guilty, the club could have at least nine points deducted. In the first instance, they were deducted 15 points.
Juventus has had financial difficulties since 2020. Last summer, they had to sell De Ligt to Bayern and could not renew with Paulo Dybala, the top scorer in the 2021-2022 season.
Juventus still holds the records of winning 36 Serie A, 14 Italian Cups and nine Italian Super Cups. In the international arena, they have two C1/Champions League Cups, one C2 Cup, three UEFA Cups/Europa League, two European Super Cups and two Intercontinental Cups.
Thanh Quy (follow Instagram, F.I)
