Andrea Pirlo explains the tactical plan that allowed Juventus to beat Sassuolo 3-1. ‘There were moments this season when we thought just wearing the Juve jersey was enough.’
The Bianconeri desperately needed a positive result after their 3-0 home defeat to Milan and it started badly when Sassuolo were awarded a penalty, but Gigi Buffon saved it.
That allowed Juve to take the lead instead, winning 3-1 with Adrien Rabiot, Cristiano Ronaldo and Paulo Dybala goals.
Andrea Pirlo explains the tactical plan that allowed Juventus to beat Sassuolo 3-1. ‘There were moments this season when we thought just wearing the Juve jersey was enough.’
The Bianconeri desperately needed a positive result after their 3-0 home defeat to Milan and it started badly when Sassuolo were awarded a penalty, but Gigi Buffon saved it.
That allowed Juve to take the lead instead, winning 3-1 with Adrien Rabiot, Cristiano Ronaldo and Paulo Dybala goals.
“We can have a breather now and then dive headfirst into the next two games,” Pirlo told DAZN.
“It wasn’t easy to get back on track after that defeat and especially against Sassuolo. We prepared it so we’d sit back, wait for Sassuolo with some very tight lines to stop them finding those spaces, then the plan was to win it back and go rapidly on the counter. Sassuolo push so many men forward, they leave gaps at the back.
“I used two very quick wing-backs like Federico Chiesa and Dejan Kulusevski to attack the space and we did it well. Champions in football are the ones who make the difference, and we have many of them, so tonight they made a big impact. It wasn’t easy for us to lift our heads up, but we did, we are here, we are alive and kicking and will fight to the end.”
Milan and Atalanta won this evening, so if they both win at the weekend too, then they are guaranteed a top four finish, so it’ll be between Juve and Napoli.
“We are aware that our destiny is no longer in our hands, but there’s no point looking back over regrets now. There were many moments during the season when we lowered our guard and weren’t 100 per cent concentrated, perhaps thinking that just wearing the Juve jersey was enough to guarantee a victory. Unfortunately, that is not the case.
“In modern football, you have to face every team with the same mentality, hunger and desire, because otherwise you won’t get far. We’ve got to get it into our heads that we must suffer, have discipline and cohesion between all the players. The rest will follow.
“Too often we have made mistakes and made life difficult for ourselves with individual errors, so we need the utmost concentration in every minute and every second. On the penalty today, we gave it away so cheaply in the final third and it’s not the first time we’ve done that.”
Buffon announced this week that he is leaving Juve at the end of the season, but Pirlo assures it was by no means a shock.
“We’ve known this for many months, so it was not a bolt from the blue.”