Raphinha scores hat-trick in 100th appearance for Barca
Brazilian winger Raphinha celebrated his 100th appearance for FC Barcelona with a hat-trick goal against Bayern Munich in the Champions League encounter on Wednesday night.
Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri wasn’t getting carried away with his side’s chances of winning the 2017 Champions League despite overseeing a 4-1 demolition of Monaco in their two-legged semifinal.
“I'm delighted with my players and what they've achieved this year. It wasn't easy to go on the sort of run we've had in the Champions League,” Allegri was quoted as saying by the club website.
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"Now we've reached the crunch phase of the season and we need to give things some serious thought tomorrow because we haven't won anything yet. We have the league, the Coppa Italia and the Champions League – in that order – to think about,” Allegri said.
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The Italian admitted Kamil Glik’s alleged stamp on Juventus forward Gonzalo Higuain gave the hosts a jolt on the night.
“We got ourselves back into the game after that foul because we'd drifted out of it a bit before then – and we saw that when we conceded the goal,” he said, adding, “Glik's foul sparked us back into life, so we can be grateful to him”.
Veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon said that reaching the final isn’t enough for a club of Juventus’ stature and Allegri agreed with the custodian.
“Yes, he's right. You go into finals to win them. For now, though, the main thing is that we're there. Hopefully this will be our year,” Allegri said.
Despite thumping the likes of Barcelona and Monaco, Allegri believes the Bianconeri can improve and with a month before the final at Cardiff, expects them to up their level.
“Juventus have a very good chance of winning the Champions League this season but we need to play even better. We have a month to work on improving and we mustn't forget that we have some very important games before then,” he added.
Turning his attention towards the Serie A title that is now within the Bianconeri’s grasp, Allegri said “We need a point at Roma on Sunday, otherwise we'll have to beat Crotone to win the Scudetto. We must remain alert and fully focused at all times.”
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