Federico Chiesa dedicated Juventus' late victory over Udinese to Gianluca Vialli following the legendary former Bianconeri striker's death at the age of 58.
Vialli, who also played for Cremonese, Sampdoria and Chelsea, passed away in London on Friday.
He was originally diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2017 and, after announcing he had been given the all-clear in April 2020, he was re-diagnosed the following year.
Vialli played over 100 times for Juventus, with whom he won the Champions League, Serie A, Coppa Italia, Supercoppa Italiana and the UEFA Cup across a four-season spell.
Juve paid tribute to Vialli with a minute's applause ahead of Saturday's 1-0 league win over Udinese and played footage of his greatest moments on the big screen at full-time.
Chiesa worked closely with Vialli during the latter's time working as Italy's assistant manager alongside Roberto Mancini, with the Azzurri's Euro 2020 triumph being the highlight.
After setting up Danilo's late winner against Udinese, second-half substitute Chiesa told DAZN: "Our first thoughts go to Gianluca Vialli.
"He was a wonderful person and I was so lucky to cross paths with him in my life, as he was a real champion, but above all a marvellous human being.
"At the Euros he really was like an extra player, he was on the pitch with us. We could talk for hours about what a great man he was. The victory is for him."
Thanks to their second late victory in a row to kick off 2023, Juventus have now won eight on the spin without conceding in Serie A for the first time since March 2018.
The Bianconeri have recovered from a slow start to the season to climb up to second and within four points of next opponents Napoli, who face Sampdoria on Sunday.
Despite closing the gap on the leaders, Allegri insists finishing in the top four remains the immediate target for his side.
"Napoli are still clearly the favourites to win the Scudetto," he said. "They have a big advantage, whereas we want to consolidate the top four.
"We're almost halfway through the season and are doing well. As I said, raising the bar means the performances rather than the results or targets.
"We have to take it one step at a time, focus on working and achieving the minimum objective, which is a top-four finish."
Juventus have now scored six goals after the 85th minute in Serie A this season, which is the most of any team.
Danilo's tap-in against Udinese came after Leandro Paredes played in fellow substitute Chiesa, who in turn laid the ball on a plate for his stand-in skipper.
"We were a bit too hasty at times with our crosses and passes," Allegri said. "We knew there could be difficulties, but that the game would improve as time wore on.
"We brought home the win late on because of good fitness levels and also mental strength.
"Technical skill is crucial, but if you don't have that desire to give that little bit extra and get there a few centimetres before your opponent, you don't win these games.”
Juve now have 12 clean sheets after their opening 17 Serie A games, a tally only Cagliari in the 1966-67 season (13) can better at this stage of a campaign.
"As the coach says, we have to keep raising the bar," Chiesa added. "Eight wins in a row isn't enough; we have to keep doing better."
St. Louis City v LA Galaxy: Reus sets sights on silverware after dream start
Marco Reus is desperate to bring silverware to the LA Galaxy after making a flying start to his time in MLS, with St. Louis City the destination for his first road game on Sunday.
Reus registered a goal and an assist on debut last week as the Galaxy beat Atlanta United 2-0, maintaining their grip on top spot in the Western Conference.
The Galaxy are five points clear of local rivals Los Angeles FC at the top of the standings ahead of Sunday's trip to St. Louis, who are 13th and 10 points adrift of the playoff picture.
Reus' arrival in Los Angeles has caused plenty of fanfare, but he is focused solely on the team's collective aims.
"It's not about me, it's about the team," he said. "We want to be champions. So we take it game by game.
"Besides the traffic, it's really amazing. The people are so friendly. The weather, it's really nice. When you wake up in the morning and the sun is shining, you start the day differently.
"So I'm really, really happy every morning I come into the dressing room. I'm just happy and excited."
St. Louis played out a thrilling 4-4 draw with the Portland Timbers last week, twice throwing away a two-goal lead to leave interim coach John Hackworth bewildered.
"Really don't know what to say," Hackworth said. "It's hard to imagine coming to a place like this and scoring four goals, being up, and then just losing one-versus-one defensive battles.
"Sometimes, the number of goals you give up, or the number of goals you score, can hide a lot of the transition moments.
"An easy way to prevent some of these defensive miscues from happening is to just be better with the ball."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
St. Louis City – Eduard Lowen
Lowen scored his fourth goal of the MLS season last time out, converting from the penalty spot as St. Louis drew 4-4 with the Timbers.
Only Joao Klauss, with five goals, has outscored him for St. Louis this term.
LA Galaxy – Marco Reus
Reus is one of 20 players in MLS history to record a goal and an assist on his regular-season debut.
He is also the fifth Galaxy player to do so, after Steven Gerrard, Andreas Herzog, Giovani dos Santos and Sasha Victorine. No other team have had more than two players achieve the feat.
MATCH PREDICTION – DRAW
The Galaxy have won 10 of their last 13 regular-season matches, the first time they have done so in a single season since 2011. LA have not recorded 11 wins in a span of 14 matches within a single regular season in the post-shootout era (since 2000).
It would be no surprise to see the points shared in this one, though. All three meetings between St. Louis and the Galaxy have ended level, all with different scorelines (1-1, 2-2, 3-3).
St. Louis have only won one of the last six matches in which they have held the lead in regular-season play dating back to the beginning of June (four draws, one defeat).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
St. Louis City – 35.8%
LA Galaxy – 38.1%
Draw – 26.1%
Raphinha hails Barcelona after statement win over Valladolid
Barcelona forward Raphinha believes the team have laid down a statement of their intent by starting the season with four straight wins in LaLiga.
Raphinha scored the first hat-trick of his career and also delivered two assists on Saturday, as Barca crushed Real Valladolid 7-0 at Camp Nou.
Hansi Flick's side already possess a four-point cushion at the top of the table after also recording victories over Valencia, Athletic Bilbao and Rayo Vallecano.
Raphinha believes their results have demonstrated the club got things right in the transfer market, telling Movistar: "Today's game has shown that there is no need for anyone else to come. We are very happy because of that.
"We are in very good shape. The team is working hard. Today's result shows what we are working for.
"We saw that the coach was on the sidelines asking for more goals and that's our mentality.
"We are hungry and want to score as many goals as we can. When we are dominant like we have been, the best way to respect our rivals is not taking the foot off the gas."
Raphinha was one of the players who faced criticism during Barca's trophyless 2023-24 campaign and was rumoured to be on his way out ahead of the new season.
The Blaugrana again battled financial restrictions throughout the window, allowing Ilkay Gundogan to leave in order to secure the registration of new arrival Dani Olmo.
With his future now certain, Raphinha is keen to nail down a starting spot and contribute on a regular basis.
"I don't know if today's was my best game, but it's certainly among my best. I will try to play even better and as much as I can," the Brazilian said.
"I'm very happy to be able to help the team. I feel good. I knew that this season would be very important for me. I'm looking for my best version to help my team-mates and be more confident."
Lazio 2-2 Milan: Leao salvages draw but Rossoneri still winless
Rafael Leao came off the bench to earn Milan a 2-2 draw with Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday, but Paulo Fonseca's side are still without a Serie A win this season.
Milan were in front at the break through Strahinja Pavlovic's eighth-minute goal, the Serbian rising highest to power home a header from Christian Pulisic's corner.
However, Lazio hit back in the second half with Valentin Castellanos and Boulaye Dia scoring in quick succession.
Nuno Tavares' first-time ball into the centre was met by the unmarked Castellanos to level in the 62nd minute, then Dia tapped another Tavares cutback home to put the Biancocelesti ahead four minutes later.
Fonseca reacted by sending on four substitutes, and those changes had a swift impact as three of them combined for the leveller.
Theo Hernandez – who joined Leao in being dropped from the start – picked out Tammy Abraham, and his lay-off allowed Leao to escape Tavares to fire past Ivan Provedel.
The game was preceded by an emotional tribute to the man who led Lazio to their last league title, Sven-Goran Eriksson, who died at the age of 76 on Monday.
A Lazio shirt bearing the Swede's name was displayed on the home bench, while a banner held up by the home fans read: "You brought us to the top of the world... Have a good trip Mr. Sven."
Data Debrief: Milan's slow start continues
New Milan boss Fonseca is already under pressure after overseeing a return of two points from his first three league games at the helm.
It is the first time the Rossoneri have drawn two of their opening three matches in a Serie A season since 2011-12, when they also drew two and lost one,
They went on to finish second that season, just four points adrift of champions Juventus. If a title challenge is to take place this term, rapid improvements are needed.
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