JUVENTUS HEAD COACH Massimiliano Allegri said he will remain with the Serie A club despite their Champions League quarter-final defeat to Ajax.
Juve’s quest for European glory was put on hold for another season following Tuesday’s shock 2-1 second-leg loss at home to Ajax.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s opener was cancelled out by Donny van de Beek and Matthijs de Ligt, who led Ajax to a memorable 3-2 aggregate victory.
With Juve poised to claim an eighth consecutive Scudetto, it left the Italian giants – who were runners-up in 2015 and 2017 – still searching for their first Champions League crown since 1996.
However, Allegri is set to remain in Turin after telling Sky Sport Italia: “I met the president a couple of days ago and told him that I will stay at Juventus.
“We’ll sit down with the club and think about the future.”
Juventus president Andrea Agnelli also put his faith in Allegri moving forward, adding:
“We’ve said since the summer that the Champions League is an objective and will be every year. This was a relatively young starting XI tonight, so it can grow with Allegri on the bench.
“We’ll sit down at the end of the season to discuss the contract, as we said six weeks ago – and we have a club that guarantees the future and continuity of a prosperous future for Juventus.”
Five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo, who also scored in the first leg, gave Juve a 28th-minute lead with his 126th Champions League goal.
However, Ronaldo’s semi-final run – dating back to 2009-10 – came to an end as giant-slaying Ajax produced another upset, just like they did against reigning champions Real Madrid in the last 16.
Asked if some of his players felt Ronaldo could resolve everything, Allegri – who was without the likes of Giorgio Chiellini, Mario Mandzukic and Douglas Costa – replied:
“No, absolutely not. Ronaldo has given us a lot over the course of the campaign, but when you reach the quarter-final, you need every player.
“I’ve always said that to win the Champions League, you need to reach a certain stage in good form and with good fitness levels. We’ve been in a bit of an emergency situation for a while and that can only be sustained for so long.
“We were missing four or five players tonight. Daniele Rugani and Leonardo Bonucci had good games for 50 minutes or so, but we lost our unity and organisation, giving Ajax the advantage.”
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Hopefully that’s the last game Matt O’Connor takes as Head Coach of Leinster. He needs to be removed for all concerned.
Not gunna happen. Madigan voiced his support in the post game MOTM interview. This will be a very different Leinster with Johnny back next year. But I don’t see MOC’s contract being renewed, no matter what happens. Leinster’s 2015/16 season will be defined by the non-internationals though.
Indeed, Madigan once again shows his class … against weak, unstructured opposition). That level of consistency is hard to come by. Book him a ticket for the World Cup – he’s back (from mediocrity).
Not sure why you got all the red thumbs puck. Your point is valid. This was a meaningless dead rubber against poor opposition.
You can only play what’s in front of you, red thumbs are probably about the mediocrity statement which was harsh.
I don’t know either but I’m being serious about the world cup place. He’ll do a job for us against the mighty Namibia or Canada.
Cian this was a game the scots needed to win so it was no meaningless game from their point of view.
Leinster’s win also gave Connaught a boast.
The reason there’s so many madigan articles is because many Leinster fans believed that if he played 10 our season would have been so different.
Also he’s not had a run at 10 since joe’s last season, a few games here and there last season.
Lol, munster trolls are out in force. The chip gets bigger.
Why because we question an opinion progressed ad nauseum on the journal? No chips here, Madigan is a good player, but hes at a crossroads. You’d swear he is the messiah on here..m
He is not a prophet, he is a very naughty boy
Nice one, Centurion…
Leading point scorer in Europe plays maybe his 3 or 4 game at 10 this season and 5 tries in the bag. I wonder what Leinster’s season would have turned out like if he played there more often.
Wow. That rarest of sights- another Ian Madigan headline on The 42.
I genuinely have nothing against the chap but am bemused by Will’s man crush.
This player, to be impartial, will be second choice outhalf for Leinster next year and at best third choice Irish outhalf.
The very best thing be could do for his career would be to move to England, like JJ, and make the outhalf spot his own before returning to Leinster.
Can he do it against Stoke on a Tuesday night?
Marian is the best option Ireland has to come on after 60 mins , if we needed to open up the
opposition .
I think away to Edinburgh in an empty Murrayfield is pretty much the pro 12 equivalent of Stoke on a Tuesday night. Not exactly a glamour fixture!
Sportsgrounds on a wet Friday is pretty much the pro 12 equivalent of Stoke on a Tuesday night. A seemingly unglamorous where it notoriously tough game and difficult to get a result. Edinburgh is more like a trip to Villa, a half empty stadium with a questionable atmosphere and wildly inconsistent opponent prone to self-destructing….
Old cliche in sport tells us you don’t become a bad player overnight. Given the fact he has played mostly at 12 this season, his kicking stats are impressive and is comfortable at 10, 12 and a push 15 has him in the w/c squad. Good to see 4/5 scores from academy graduates. Hopefully MOC gives some of these young lads game time next year and not just during the world cup when he’s down at least 18 first choice players!