Despite reports casting doubt on his Juventus future, Paulo Dybala scored twice to secure three points for Juventus at Hellas Verona. Despite reports casting doubt on his Juventus future, Paulo Dybala scored twice to secure three points for Juventus at Hellas Verona. Amid reports about his future with Juventus, Paulo Dybala scored twice to lead the Bianconeri past Hellas Verona at the Bentegodi.
Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri said Paulo Dybala regained some confidence after ending his goal drought in Saturday's win, but cautioned him not to "get swept up" in trying to meet expectations.
Dybala had not scored in Serie A since Nov. 19 and had lost his place in the starting XI, but he restored Juventus' lead in the 72nd minute and doubled his tally five minutes later to provide a 3-1 victory away to Hellas Verona -- their first win league win there since 2001.
A day earlier, Allegri had said that comparisons to world-class players like Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronalda had "damaged" Dybala, and after Saturday's performance, the manager urged his player to focus only his football.
"It's important that Paulo found the net again. After the goal, he started to play better, as he was in a delicate moment where things weren't quite going his way. He's started taking free kicks better too," Allegri told Mediaset. "Psychology is everything in football and confidence is key. You have to be focused and determined.
"I think the only advice for Paulo is to think just about his football and his journey, not worrying about comparisons with players like Leo Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. There's no need to get swept up in the anxiety of trying to overdo it.
"We all know it was not a good performance. We put the victory at risk after a strong start, because we slowed down, made far too many mistakes, lost the ball repeatedly, and we need to improve on that.
"We cannot afford to drop points in these situations, especially as today was crucial to break away from the chasing pack and complete an extraordinary first half to the season."
Paulo Dybala's brace carried Juventus to their first league win at Verona since 2001.
Juventus finished the first half of the season one point behind leaders Napoli but on Saturday put space between themselves and the other title contenders as Inter, Roma and Lazio all settled for draws.
And Allegri said there still remained plenty of time for Juventus to overtake Napoli and win their seventh straight Scudetto.
"There are still 19 games to go and many points up for grabs, so we have to look at what is ahead of us and that's Napoli," he said. "They've had an extraordinary 2017, play impressive football and are a strong antagonist. We've got 18 games to overtake them.
"What I hope for the second half of the season is that Juventus stay in the running on all three fronts. Winning away from home is not easy, we've got a fair few away fixtures coming up and so this is the key moment of the season for us. It's the most difficult to prepare, but also the most important."
Federico Bernardeschi said he believes the win at Verona was "a clear signal to the rest of the league," that Juventus are serious about retaining the trophy.
"I'd say it's a two-horse race for the Scudetto, as we opened up a good advantage from the chasing pack and sent a clear signal to the rest of the league," he said.
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Source: espn.co.uk