Allegri: Juventus a team of great champions
Massimiliano Allegri described Juventus as a team of "great champions" after a 3-0 win at Fiorentina moved his side 11 points clear at the top of Serie A.
Juventus took a first-half lead through Rodrigo Bentancur but Fiorentina had plenty of chances to get back in the game before Giorgio Chiellini's first league goal in over two years made the scoreline more comfortable.
Cristiano Ronaldo then converted a late penalty to record his 10th league goal since joining Juventus to add gloss to the scoreline and extend Juve's advantage from Napoli to double figures.
A comfortable win in Florence provided a strong end to a week that saw Juve book their place in the knockout rounds of the Champions League, leaving Allegri pleased.
"This is a team made up of champions and men of character," Allegri said.
"To win you must have the desire to run more, to gain an extra centimetre, you must have the humility to put yourself on a par with the opponents on the physical plane and these players have it.
"I asked for attention and compactness and the guys were very good. In the second half we left them the ball for about 10 minutes, but we managed to defend, we had our chances and we could have got to 2-0 even earlier.
"However, the team did well, they are starting to get to know each other and the ball goes better. Then we have great players and we have to be good at serving them and putting ourselves in the spaces they create."
Juve's 40 points after 14 @SerieA games sets a new league record #FiorentinaJuve #ForzaJuve pic.twitter.com/QIRNd9MawJ
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) December 1, 2018
With Miralem Pjanic and Sami Khedira out injured, Allegri used Juan Cuadrado in a more central role.
"It can be a solution in the future, because he is a dynamic player," added Allegri.
"Juan has the characteristics to play both inside and on the wing."
This squad... #FinoAllaFine pic.twitter.com/9jNVfCUqRB
— Blaise Matuidi (@MATUIDIBlaise) December 1, 2018
Despite Juve enjoying a dominant position at the top of the table, Chiellini is not getting carried away with his side's strong start.
"Juve, Napoli and Inter all have tough away fixtures this weekend," Chiellini said to Sky Sport Italia.
"We'll see in the winter break what the table looks like, but next week we've got a head-to-head with Inter and that should be a fascinating and difficult match.
"We've got to take it one game at a time. We achieved Champions League qualification, it's still early December, so let's see what happens."