Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri spoke of his satisfaction regarding his side’s performance despite their penalty shootout loss to Melbourne Victory after a 1-1 draw in front of 23, 174 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The undermanned Juventus side went into the half time break 1-0 up, before substituting the majority of starters in place of youngsters from the clubs youth academy.
Victory’s Jai Ingham equalised with just minutes to spare as the home side went on to win the clash in a penalty shootout 4-3.
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Allegri praised the Victory as quality opposition for his team in the aftermath, whose only goal came through an effort from near the half way mark, a long range strike from Spaniard Carlos Blanco which caught Victory goalkeeper Lawrence Thomas off guard.
“It was a good test being our first official match. We did not have some of our best players playing, Pjanic and Pereyra were out,” he said.
“Those that came in for the second half did very well.”
“They are a very good team and they played well. I met with their coach and we spoke for about an hour. They are very well set up, tonight they showed their worth as a club.”
Meanwhile, Allegri gave some better news for Juventus fans wishing to see new signings, Miralem Pjanic and Medhi Benatia in action for the second game on Tuesday night against Tottenham Hotspur.
“Pjanic and Benatia will be available for the second game. The reason they were out is because we worked really hard during the week and they were fatigued,” he said.
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