Allegri said: Simple, we allowed seven counter-attacks and were constantly trying these tik-tak passes to someone a metre away and getting it wrong.
Against aggressive sides like Cagliari, you need to wage battle. We didn't understand that was the situation, especially with the ball not really rolling on that pitch, we had to hit it long instead.
We allowed seven counter-attacks, we got a lot wrong technically, and when you play at this stage of the season, you will lose if you don't match the opponents for intensity. That is why Cagliari players all had cramp at the end, they gave their all. In those situations, you either match them for intensity or get out of it with technical precision, and we did neither."
Allegri also said: We got back into the game, but this has to make us think. If we don't run as hard as the opponents, we will rarely be able to win the game with technical quality, especially at the start.
It is good that we showed such determination, but we cannot keep gifting the first half. We conceded the second penalty from a throw-in, the first was a counter-attack from a misplaced pass.
We need to understand the initial approach, which is a sign of maturity. It is always difficult to play well in Cagliari, because the pitch is quite slow and the ball doesn't move quickly. It's always been a battle for my teams here and we didn't understand the situation.
If you want to step up a level and aim for something more, you need to understand this type of match. It's a process that this young group is going through, they've got to learn to get their hands dirty and dive into the duels. As long as Cagliari kept that tempo up, we had to match them and at least keep the game on even terms so that when they got tired, our technique would start to make the difference. We didn't do that."