Bianconeri ‘s manager believes his side could only find their way after the coronavirus pandemic. Maurizio Sarri claims that Cristiano Ronaldo and his other Juventus stars are lacking in sharpness despite their final defeat to Napoli in Coppa Italia on Wednesday.
Napoli had posted a 4-2 penalty shoot-out victory over Juve after a goalless draw at the decision-maker in Rome.
After not playing competitive matches for more than three months, Sarri said Ronaldo and his other attackers lacked the required fitness level.
Bianconeri ‘s manager said to RAI: “He’s in the same shape as the others, like Paulo Dybala and Douglas Costa, he lacks the sharpness to do what works best for him. After the game, I didn’t say anything to the boys. I was just like them frustrated and upset, so it’s best to stay quiet at these times. Tomorrow morning we’ll talk better.”
Paulo Dybala and Danilo have missed penalties for Juventus, who are a strong point at the top of Serie A ahead of the resumption of their league campaign against Bologna on Monday.
Sarri regretted his side’s loss and claims they lack a certain “brilliance,” with Juve struggling to score in back-to-back games for the first time since October 2015.
“We made different choices than normal, pressing less hard to get a stronger grip at a distance and we were playing the game with reasonable application rates. Right now, however, we lack the creativity to make the amount of game generated dangerous and without that ingenuity, it is harder to defeat the guy our players are normally used to easily do and find other solutions. Two 0-0s is an extraordinary fact and I believe this time is characteristic, Sari added.”
Furthermore, Napoli coach Gennaro Gattuso thought the hard work Napoli did was rewarded by a “Father of Football” as he claimed his first major piece of silverware as a player.
The Italian coach is now eager to see Napoli kick on the closing weeks of the Series A season, sitting sixth, nine points behind the fourth-placed finish at Atalanta.
