Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri has hailed Gonzalo Higuain’s debut goal as testimony to the predatory instincts that prompted the club to splash out €90 million on him.
The Argentina striker came off the bench on Saturday night to fire the Italian champions to a 2-1 win over potential title rivals Fiorentina, making it a perfect start to Juve’s bid for a record sixth straight title.
“Higuain was very good and that goal was not at all easy to take,” Allegri said.
“It was important for him and for the team. There are still a lot of areas we can improve in but I’m very happy with this test. We have made a much better start than last season and we have got three points in the bag.”
Allegri is still struggling to work out his best line-up after overhauling his squad in the close season with the funds raised by Paul Pogba’s world record transfer move to Manchester United.
By taking Higuain from Napoli and midfielder Miralem Pjanic from Roma and having signed Brazilian right-back Dani Alves, Allegri is widely seen as having put together a squad capable of challenging for Champions League glory as well as being runaway favourites to top the Italian league again.
Roma boss Luciano Spalletti admitted as much after his side produced a second-half blitz to beat Udinese 4-0 in their opener at the Stadio Olimpico.
“Everyone thinks that,” Spalletti said with a smile. “But noone wants to just give up and accept this analysis. We all have to battle hard. It will be a pleasure to try to challenge them, precisely because they are strong.”
Higuain had been left out of Juve’s starting line-up because he is not deemed to be fully match fit.
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