Juventus manager Luciano Spalletti spoke to DAZN following the 1-1 home draw against Sassuolo in their Serie A matchday 30 fixture: "We lacked maturity in our decision-making; we gave the ball away too often and conceded too many counter-attacks. Above all, we failed to capitalise on key opportunities."
LOCATELLI
Spalletti then commented on his captain’s decision to take the penalty, which Locatelli himself subsequently missed: “He came up to me and said he felt confident taking it; there were two or three others who wanted to take it, but he’s our designated penalty-taker. That’s fine; you can miss penalties. A missed penalty is all anyone’s talking about, and we’re disappointed not to have taken the points.”
Belongs to Vlahovic, not to Onda or David
The manager then explained his substitutions, particularly the choices made in attack: "In a match like tonight’s, you need two more physical strikers, who are stronger in challenges and when the ball is played into the box: in fact, the penalty came from a ball like that. If we’d needed to play a wider game, that would be a different matter. We’ve struggled all year; today I had four and we’re happy because there’s still a chunk of the league season left to play and it’s wide open."
ARE THE JOLLYS RUNNING OUT?
Finally, a word on the Champions League target: "I don’t really understand what that means. Every match is one we need to win; there’s a margin that allows us to catch up regardless of tomorrow’s result. Ultimately, it all depends on the result. When you’re trailing, you have to be good at picking up more points than your opponent, and they have to slip up. With this number of games left, the possibility is still very much alive and right there in front of us."
