Roma loss ‘will be a wake-up call’ for Coppa Italia final – Allegri

Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri believes the 3-1 defeat at Roma will act as a good wake-up call for his side.

The Serie A leaders needed just a point to secure a sixth straight Scudetto with two matches left to play.

Despite making several changes, Allegri saw his side take the lead on 21 minutes through Mario Lemina.

However, Roma were looking to get back above Napoli, who had won 5-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday and also keep alive their own slim hopes of beating Juventus to the championship.

The Giallorossi rallied and were soon level when Daniele de Rossi stabbed the ball past Gianluigi Buffon from close range.

Roma were ahead early in the second have when Stephan El Shaarawy’s low shot crept into the bottom corner on 56 minutes and Radja Nainggolan then crashed home a third to complete the turnaround which leaves them just four points behind Juve.

The Bianconeri, meanwhile, must now regroup for their return to the Stadio Olimpico in Wednesday night’s Coppa Italia final against Lazio and then look to secure the Scudetto at home to relegation-threatened Crotone.

Allegri told Italian broadcaster Mediaset Premium his men need to quickly move on.

“I think we let our guard drop and thought we’d done enough to take the result home,” he said.

“The fact we drew with Atalanta and Torino, then lost here, it shows we’ve lost something in terms of concentration. At least it will be a wake-up call ahead of the Coppa Italia final with Lazio.”

“We knew a point here would enable us to win the Scudetto, but we have to look at the positive, which is this’ll make us keep absolutely focused for Wednesday.”

Allegri added: “I won’t say this was entirely unexpected, but not expected either, so we need to make sure we’re fully plugged in for the remaining weeks of the season.

“We have to take it one step at a time, because we’ve won nothing yet. We’ve got the Coppa Italia final and then Crotone, while the Champions League [final against Real Madrid] is a month away.”

Roma boss Luciano Spalletti, meanwhile, feels his side proved a point.

“We had a good game and were missing several players, but we worked as a gritty side,” he said to Mediaset Premium.

“What interested us was winning this particular game. The rest is irrelevant. If you want to pay us a compliment, it’s that Roma were always capable of this, but it’s more than the victory, it’s proving the kind of people we are.”

Spalletti added: “Now we have got some big games coming up and we want to be absolutely focused.”