Juventus, Allegri: "Valencia are very tough defensively, our execution has improved."

Max Allegri spoke after Juventus' 1-0 home win against Valencia in the Champions League. A Mario Mandzukic goal in the second half gave the bianconeri a win that secured them a place in the knockout stages. The coach spoke about the match and discussed the tough test given to them by their opponents:

"Valencia showed why their defense is the best in La Liga at the moment. We gave up a few counterattacks and the match was tilted to their advantage in the first half. We were not able to mark them successfully. In the second half however we were more organized. The lads deserved that victory. Alex Sandro? A knock to his quad, so we removed him. Valencia allows little to nothing, they are strong tactically, similar to Atletico Madrid in their style of defending. Playing against them is always difficult, especially when they close you down in space. 9/11 of our squad is the same as last year, we improved the speed of our execution and Cristiano gives us much more security."