Dybala Must Think Just About His Football And His Journey – Allegri

Massimiliano Allegri has said Paulo Dybala regained some confidence after ending his goal drought in Saturday’s win, but warned him not to “get swept up” in trying to meet expectations.

“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.”

“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.”