Maurizio Sarri admits Juventus tend to ‘lose our organisation and shape’ after a 2-1 defeat to Udinese. ‘Games are strange after the lockdown.’
The Bianconeri fumbled 18 points from leading situations in Serie A this season and had gone in front at the Dacia Arena with a Matthijs de Ligt strike, but Ilija Nestorovski’s diving header and a Seko Fofana counter-attack in stoppages turned it all around.
Maurizio Sarri admits Juventus tend to ‘lose our organisation and shape’ after a 2-1 defeat to Udinese. ‘Games are strange after the lockdown.’
The Bianconeri fumbled 18 points from leading situations in Serie A this season and had gone in front at the Dacia Arena with a Matthijs de Ligt strike, but Ilija Nestorovski’s diving header and a Seko Fofana counter-attack in stoppages turned it all around.
“That’s what is happening lately, we’ve lost our organisation and shape,” Sarri told Sky Sport Italia.
“We had a good first half performance, conceded the equaliser and wanted to win at all costs, which is why we started to get too disorganised and loose.
“It was our desire to win that made it a more dangerous approach and we lost it at the 93rd precisely because we wanted to win at all costs.”
A victory here would’ve mathematically clinched Juve’s ninth consecutive Scudetto, the first for Sarri, but if Atalanta beat Milan tomorrow night, they can temporarily close the gap to three points.
“It’s difficult to find balance at the moment, as everyone in every team is getting tired. We’re also not as aggressive because of that, but I believe organisation is more important than aggression right now. It’s more mental fatigue than physical, as we lost our cool after the equaliser.
“Games are so strange after the lockdown, as the inertia changes so rapidly. We must learn the lessons of these fixtures and try to keep our shape.”
Juventus have conceded 38 goals this season, far more than in the last decade.
“We also had 12 penalties awarded against us, which is unusual for the big clubs. There have been more spot-kicks in general, it’s an all-time record, even if our percentage went up a lot more than some others.
“Giorgio Chiellini has practically been out all season and people don’t realise how much his experience and character was missed. Leonardo Bonucci was also suspended today, Miralem Pjanic had a little adductor issue, but nothing serious.
“Gonzalo Higuain is out, he too would’ve been useful against more defensive opponents.”