Soccer-Allegri’s ‘hungry’ Juventus favourites for Serie A title - Lippi

ROME : Juventus will start the new Serie A season as favourites for the title despite finishing fourth in 2020-21, according to the Turin club's former coach Marcello Lippi.

Juve squeezed into the top four on the final day of last season but finished 13 points behind champions Inter Milan, ending a nine-year period of domestic dominance for the club.

"Juve are always favourites, this year even more so,” Lippi told Gazzetta dello Sport on Thursday.

"They did not win last season, so they are hungry and determined to get their own back. But Inter are at their level. After selling Romelu Lukaku they will sign Edin Dzeko, and I do not think they will make more sales."

Juve’s poor league performance last season resulted in the sacking of rookie coach Andrea Pirlo, and Massimiliano Allegri was named as his replacement to mark his return to the club.

Allegri left Juventus in 2019 after winning five consecutive Serie A titles and has been out of work since, but Lippi believes the club made the right choice in bringing him back.

“At this level, taking a break after a long spell can be a good thing. You relax, you study new tactics and new coaches, you develop. The team is strong and he knows that well,” said Lippi, who led Italy to World Cup glory in 2006.

“There are a lot of similarities between us. He is also from Tuscany. He arrived at Juve aged 47 and immediately won the Scudetto, like I did aged 46.

“Max is one of the most skilled, shrewd and sly – in a good way - modern coaches. He is among the most capable at managing certain situations. He is the right man for the job.”

(Reporting by Alasdair Mackenzie; Editing by Toby Davis)