Juan Cuadrado insists Juventus ‘played good football, but Napoli defended with 11 men and it was difficult to find spaces’ in the Coppa Italia Final defeat.
It ended 0-0 on the night, with the Partenopei coming out 4-2 winners in the penalty shoot-out at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
“We went out there with the desire to win the game, but Napoli defended with 11 men and it was difficult to find spaces,” Cuadrado told RAI Sport.
Juan Cuadrado insists Juventus ‘played good football, but Napoli defended with 11 men and it was difficult to find spaces’ in the Coppa Italia Final defeat.
It ended 0-0 on the night, with the Partenopei coming out 4-2 winners in the penalty shoot-out at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
“We went out there with the desire to win the game, but Napoli defended with 11 men and it was difficult to find spaces,” Cuadrado told RAI Sport.
“We have to look forward now, as we have Serie A and the Champions League. There is bitterness, as we always want to win a trophy, but we must remember that we are a great team and must find the same belief in ourselves that we had before this long break.
“It’s not easy, we can’t look back at what has been, we need to be in the moment. Being in the game, I thought we were playing good football, moving the ball quickly the way that the coach asks for, but we have to get better and our finishing and getting the shot away.”
This was very similar to the 0-0 semi-final draw against 10-man Milan, so why are Juve struggling so much to score goals?
“We keep trying to go one-against-one, but Napoli are well-organised and it’s not easy to find the spaces. We tried crosses too, they cleared everything.”
Cristiano Ronaldo seemed very annoyed after the match, especially as he never even got to take the fifth spot-kick in the shoot-out.
“He was a little sad at the result and the game, as we wanted to win. It’s always a lottery when it goes to penalties. We need to learn from every error, remain professional and keep focused.”