Allegri Criticizes Rabiot's Performance When Juventus Are Held To A Draw With Villarreal

Adrien Rabbiot (Instagram.com/@adrienrabiot_25)

JAKARTA - Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw with Villarreal when they met in the first leg of the 2021/2022 Champions League last 16 on Wednesday, February 23 in the morning Indonesian Western Time (WIB). After the tough match, Massimiliano Allegri as the Juventus coach criticized Adrien Rabiot's appearance, who was considered to have made a fatal mistake.

In the match at the Estadio La Ceramica, the Bianconeri actually had a beautiful start. Because they made the lead so quickly through Dusan Vlahovic's goal when the game had only been running for 32 seconds.

This position lasted until the middle of the second half. However, disaster appeared when the game entered the 66th minute.

Villarreal offset the score to 1-1 because Rabiot failed to guard Dani Parejo. At this moment, Rabiot was also lucky because he did not get a straight red card after releasing a hard tackle on Samu Chukwueze.

"It was a decisive mistake because we came out of a situation where (Dusan) Vlahovic was half fouled, we stopped, they stopped," Allegri said, cited from Football Italia.

"(Dani) Parejo was completely alone in the box, it was six against one but Rabiot didn't mark (Parejo). We should have done better," continued the coach.

Because of the draw in the first leg, Allegri thinks the second meeting will be like a final between two teams.

The second leg meeting will be played at the Allianz Stadium which is the headquarters of Juventus on 17 March. Opportunities for Juve and Villarreal in the second leg are still wide open considering the away goals rule has been revoked.

Based on the new rules, if the score remains even for both teams, the match will proceed to extra time even though it has lasted 180 minutes.

Furthermore, Allegri reiterated that the second match against The Yellow Submarine would be very meaningful. For this reason, the Old Lady must not lose focus again and must continue to look at the game ahead with optimism.

"Now the away goals rule has been abolished, basically the second leg is like a final. We have to win, there is no other choice. Meanwhile, I prefer to see Juve win, even though (playing) is not beautiful. It's a matter of taste," explained Allegri.

Before later meeting in the second leg with Villarreal, Juventus will first undergo three Italian domestic parties. First against Fiorentina in the Coppa Italia semifinals then against Spezia and Sampdoria in the Italian League continued.