Allegri: ‘Napoli play better’

By Football Italia staff

Juventus Coach Massimiliano Allegri is “happy to say” Napoli play better football than his own side do.

The Partenopei have finished second and third behind the Bianconeri in the past two seasons, but have been praised for their entertaining style of football under Maurizio Sarri.

While Juve have won the Scudetto for the past six years and the Coppa Italia three times in a row, their style has been described as more pragmatic and functional.

“I accept and I’m happy to say that he [Sarri] plays better,” Allegri said in an interview with Sky.

“It’s nice to watch his teams play, but when you have the obligation to win then you can’t always play well.

“I always say that there are those five or six games where you have to win ugly, while playing badly. Not all of the season is the same, there are moments and moments.”

Allegri was also asked about his time at Milan, having won the Rossoneri their most recent Scudetto.

“I told [then-President Silvio] Berlusconi that if he took [Zlatan] Ibra[himovic] we’d win the Scudetto.

“I’m grateful to the Milan leadership because they gave me a team of champions, even if they were older.

“We had an exceptional season with them, we got to the end with players who were retiring but they were four wonderful years for me.

“In that first year I coached players I’d have loved to coach six or seven years earlier.

“Ibrahimovic? He’s a player who tips the balance.”

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