Allegri: We gave Messi too much space

Juventus Coach Max Allegri has lamented his side affording Lionel Messi too much space in Tuesday night’s Champions League encounter.

The Argentine star netted twice in a 3-0 rout for Barcelona to end the record of him never scoring past Bianconeri goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.

“The press talked about the statistic of Messi never scoring against Buffon,” Allegri told reporters after the game.

“This time he managed to do that because we afforded him too much space and time on the ball.

“He is already so good in tight spaces so when you give him more than that you will definitely be punished.

“So in that sense we allowed him to score.

“These games have to be played with the mind. Paradoxically, we conceded the first and third goals on counter-attacks when we were trying to go forward.

“It is about having the strength to stay in the game to the end, because you can always get back and even turn it around.

“Last season in Turin, Juventus played a good game and we made the most of our chances in attack. This is another Champions League campaign, we are just at the beginning. We wanted to start the group well, that wasn’t the case, but now we need the three points at home against Olympiakos.”

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