Leonardo Bonucci said Juventus must ‘take the lessons’ from their 4-0 defeat to Chelsea in the Champions League. ‘The moment you ease off, they punish you.’
The Bianconeri had already qualified for the Round of 16, but were crushed at Stamford Bridge with goals from Trevor Chalobah, Reece James, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Timo Werner.
They now slip to second place in the group, having previously maintained a perfect record in the competition.
Champions League | Chelsea 4-0 Juventus: Bianconeri get the blues
“It’s a heavy defeat, certainly, we have to take the lesson that against these teams you must always go at 1,000km/h, because the moment you slow it down, they punish you,” Bonucci told Sky Sport Italia and Sport Mediaset.
“We tried in the second half to close down their moves down the flanks, but we weren’t focused enough on those two balls they put in from wide.
“It is important we learn the lessons from this game, which is that against these teams, you cannot lower the intensity or concentration for a moment.
“We conceded the first goal from a corner, it might’ve been handball. We should’ve controlled it better in the second half, as they caused us so many problems.”
Much has been said about the difference in tempo between Italian sides and the Premier League outfits.
“The Premier League has seven, eight, nine teams competing for the title every season and they are also therefore challenging to go all the way in the Champions League.
“We need to take the right lessons from this game and be ready to take it going forward. You have to be 100 per cent physically and psychologically for every moment in these games, otherwise you will be punished.
“We qualified for the Round of 16, that was the first objective and we achieved it. Now we look forward.”