Allegri says Juve needed to commit more fouls

MILAN ( Reuters) - Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri said his team were outmuscled by Genoa in Serie A on Sunday and suggested that one of the reasons for their 3-1 defeat was that they did not commit enough fouls.

Allegri's opposite number Ivan Juric, meanwhile, praised Genoa for being cynical and mean.

"There's only one way to sum up the game: we suffered 25 fouls and we only committed eight ourselves, and when you suffer physically, then you are going to lose the game," Allegri told reporters.

The Serie A leaders were knocked off their stride, conceding three goals in the first half-hour against their midtable opponents as they suffered their third league defeat of the season.

"There's no justification for that first half-hour," said Allegri. "We conceded three goals from six metres and you are going to lose the game if you do that. Everyone has a slip-up during the season and this was ours."

Allegri added that his players might have relaxed after Tuesday's 3-1 at Sevilla guaranteed them a place in the Champions League knockout stages.

"We need to keep our feet on the ground and understand that the season is long and nothing can be taken for granted," he said.

"What did I say to the players? They are a group of responsible lads and I didn't need to say anything, especially in the heat of the moment."

As far as Juric was concerned, the match went exactly to plan.

"When you play Juventus you can decide how you want to die. Or you can take risks, be aggressive and courageous," he said.

"We took our chances really well and we were cynical and mean as I expected," added the Croatian. "I want to give credit to my team rather than saying it was a bad Juventus performance."

(Writing by Brian Homewood in Berne; Editing by Clare Fallon)