Leonardo Bonucci concedes Juventus ‘were lacking something’ in the Coppa Italia semi-final with Inter, explains their tactical concerns and the misunderstanding around his substitution.
The first leg ended 1-1 in Turin, so there was no away goals rule and it was all to be decided at San Siro.
An early Federico Dimarco goal proved decisive for the 2-1 victory on aggregate, 1-0 on the night, the first time in four competitive meetings this season that Juve have lost to their arch-rivals Inter.
“Obviously, when it’s Inter-Juve, and losing the opportunity to play in a Final, it always hurts,” a visibly deflated Bonucci told Mediaset.
“In this match we started with the handbrake on, then conceded an avoidable goal and struggled to create something that could hurt Inter to get the game back on track. Unfortunately, that’s the way it went, we need to turn over a new leaf and give more in every aspect, from technique to character.”
The experiment of using Federico Chiesa as a False 9 in the absence of injured Dusan Vlahovic and Moise Kean also failed, especially with a long ball approach.
“We should’ve done better with the ball and some of the ideas that we struggled to put into practice, while Inter had a high press and at times we were forced to play the long ball. With Chiesa as the reference point upfront, it becomes more difficult to hold up the ball.”
Bonucci seemed to be irritated with someone on the Juventus staff when he was substituted, so what happened?
“No, it was just that I was starting to get some cramp and warned them to take that into consideration when the next slot came up. They misunderstood and thought I had to come off immediately.
“I’ve never stirred up controversy when substituted and I never will.”
Juventus looked exhausted, mentally and physically, failing to really stand up to Inter.
“In these games, you need that electricity you feel in the locker room and on the pitch. We were lacking something in the first 25 minutes, when we were soft in the tackle. Some of us were more tired than others, but we mustn’t use that as an alibi.
“When it is Juve against Inter or Milan, we need to show character and be aggressive. Unfortunately, for a portion of the match this evening, we lacked that.”