Massimiliano Allegri believes he was lucky to work with World Cup winner Angel Di Maria after the winger scored in La Spezia, where the Italian thought Juventus were lucky to win.
Di Maria came off the bench and landed a well-placed shot into the bottom left corner as Juventus won 2-0 after Moise Kean opened the first half at the Alberto Picco Stadium on Sunday.
The Argentine international has been directly involved in 10 goals (four goals, six assists) for Juventus in all competitions this season.
That’s more than any Bianconeri player this season averaging a goal every 97 minutes, and Allegri remains grateful to have worked with the 35-year-old.
“I have always been lucky because the teams I coached were full of champions. Di Maria is one of them,” Allegri said of the forward, who signed a one-year deal ahead of the 2022-23 campaign.
“It’s not lucky that he’s 35, I wish he was younger so he could play all the matches. He came and did incredible things.”
Forza Juve #SpiceJuve pic.twitter.com/RozSdS23uh
— Juventus (@juventusfcen) February 19, 2023
Di Maria has previously stated that he would like to return to Argentina this or next year to return to where he started his career at Rosario Central.
While Allegri was grateful for Di Maria’s influence, he was less than impressed with Juventus’ performance despite claiming a third consecutive Serie A win.
Mattia Perrin was forced to make seven saves, the most saves he has made in the league since August 15 against Sassuolo (also seven) as the Bianconeri held on to win.
This was in stark contrast to a 1-1 home draw in the Europa League play-offs with Nantes who scored and Allegri acknowledged that Juventus were lucky to win this time.
“Football is strange: on Thursday we missed and drew, today maybe you concede a goal with a score of 1-0, and who knows,” he continued.
“Football is such that there are games where you deserve to win and you don’t win, and you win others where you deserve less. It is hard to explain.”
The defeat left Spezia just two points above the relegation zone, but Allegri believes they will have enough to beat the fall.
He added: “It is always difficult to play here. Spezia is always creating something because they have quality. I think they have a great chance to be saved.”
