After the 1-1 draw in the Turin derby, Juventus head coach Thiago Motta spoke to DAZN about how his players, despite needing to play more aggressively – especially concerning the conceded goal – were nevertheless closer to victory, having attempted over twenty shots on Torino’s goal. However, they settled for their twelfth (!) draw in eighteen rounds of Serie A – notably, in six of those draws, Juventus had the lead during the match, thereby losing a total of twelve points. Nonetheless, Motta remains optimistic, as the “Bianconeri” have yet to experience defeat in Serie A:
– We started very well, taking the lead, and then we stepped back, allowing Torino to create dangerous moments through long passes. In the second half, we also started well – we dominated the pitch, created goal-scoring opportunities, but we were not calm enough, so we had to settle for a draw. Of course, we should have been more aggressive in their goal-scoring attack, conceding in a situation where a Torino player found the only possible space for a shot – I can only commend him. I repeat, in the second half, we performed much better than Torino, but our finishing was not good enough – however, the boys executed my instructions. At half-time, I told them that we needed to push forward and not leave the opponent any space – we did that in the second half, playing much better and having chances to go ahead again. Certainly, we have a lot of draws, especially when we’ve been leading in the matches – at the same time, Juventus has only lost two matches in all competitions out of twenty-seven, while having a very young team and several injuries, including the loss of important players. This is not an excuse – just a fact, as well as the necessity to recover from significant physical exertion and focus on the match against Atalanta. We need as many healthy players as possible to manage the team through many upcoming matches – I am very pleased with how Douglas Luiz played; I think he had a great performance. And Cambiaso, after his injury in the match against Bologna, worked hard to return to the team – I must thank Andrea for training and playing despite the pain. I hope he gets back in shape as soon as possible to help the team raise the bar.
Now Juventus faces five matches in fifteen days – in the Champions League, Thiago Motta’s side will play away against Brugge and at home against Benfica, while in Serie A, they will take on Atalanta in Bergamo, followed by a home match against Milan, and then they will travel to Naples. Does this mean that Juventus will finally face their first defeat in the Italian championship?
