TORINO – The first defeat as a Juventus coach he weighs for Andrea Pirlo, who struggles to hide the disappointment for the clear knockout against Barcelona in the Champions League: “We knew it was going to be a difficult match – dice a Sky Sport – they are further along the path, they have players more used to these games, while we are under construction. We knew we were playing this type of game, we will need it to grow. I hope to have the other players available soon, now we are numbered and I have no other solutions: those who field must stay 90 minutes so it is difficult to play close matches“.
Pirlo: “It takes experience”
About the difficulties in the middle of the field, “you have to be quick to change the game – Pirlo added – we have young people, Bentancur and Arthur are 22 years old, Rabiot himself is still young. It will take more games and more experience, we need to work and improve to play an equal match with Barcelona“. In the second half, explains Pirlo,”we had tried to keep Church always wide, Rabiot advancing from the middle wing and Bentancur more in the center, with Cuadrado almost acting as a middle wing and entering, to keep Kulusevski on the other side. The goal was to do one on one with Chiesa and take Sergi Roberto away, taking advantage of Rabiot’s inclusion“. Difficult to digest tonight’s performance:”It was frustrating, in eleven against ten, that we were running in circles; you had to stay there and not press them. The kids didn’t understand it“.
Bonucci: “Results not up to par”
“It’s time to grit our teeth, to team up, to bring out the best in ourselves. We arrive from results not to our height. Tonight we knew it was going to be difficult. There were absences from both them and us, but we made too many mistakes and Barcelona are unforgiving. We must remain compact, the road is long“: so the Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci to the microphones of Sky Sport he comments on the defeat against the blaugrana. “We could have done something more, starting with myself – Bonucci added, captain tonight – there is something more to come up with. We miss very important players for our group. We are playing every three days, the fatigue begins to feel. Young people are growing and will have the opportunity to do so again. Now we have to think about returning to victory in the championship“.
Danilo: “We have to take a step forward”
Along the same lines is Danilo: “We were organized but not aggressive, and against quality players like them it becomes difficult to play – dice a Sky – if we want to do something important this season we have to take a step forward. We’ve had good times so far, but we have never played a good full match. We need to improve on the pitch and be stronger in the head. More bad in some moments, when we play against the strongest teams this is the most important thing. Now we must achieve results“.
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