Scudetto-winning Coach Ottavio Bianchi maintains Juventus “have been in decline for quite a while” and Napoli must stay focused.

The gap at the top of the table was cut to just one point after Kalidou Koulibaly grabbed a 1-0 victory in Turin.

“Juve conceded a thoroughly avoidable goal, they can’t leave a defender free to jump in the box,” former Napoli boss Bianchi told Sky Sport Italia.

Scudetto-winning Coach Ottavio Bianchi maintains Juventus “have been in decline for quite a while” and Napoli must stay focused.

The gap at the top of the table was cut to just one point after Kalidou Koulibaly grabbed a 1-0 victory in Turin.

“Juve conceded a thoroughly avoidable goal, they can’t leave a defender free to jump in the box,” former Napoli boss Bianchi told Sky Sport Italia.

“I expected the game to go like that, as Juve have been in decline for quite a while. Napoli aren’t at their sharpest either right now, but enough to get back on top of the table.”

Bianchi was at the helm when Napoli won their first Scudetto in 1986-87, also winning the UEFA Cup and Coppa Italia with the club.

“Max Allegri does what he can, but if he doesn’t have the players… Napoli are more of a team unit, whereas Juventus live and die on individual performances and if those don’t arrive, they’re in trouble.

“I hope that Napoli win the Scudetto, but having such wild celebrations from the fans after a victory that doesn’t even put them top of the table isn’t helping. The team has to focus and ignore everything going around them.”

Many criticised Napoli and Maurizio Sarri for not rotating the squad and giving up too easily on Europe to focus on the Serie A title.

“I don’t know if Sarri was right to do that. Juventus simply couldn’t even consider it, as they have to challenge for every objective. I played with Omar Sivori and he told me that whenever he played, he had to prove that he was Sivori. The bigger you are, the more you have to maintain that level and can leave nothing to chance.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *