Sarri: Juventus lost organisation and shape against Udinese

In a season where apparently no one is interested in winning the Scudetto, Juventus had a chance to clinch the title today with three games left to play. Needless to say, their clash at the Friuli proved to be anticlimactic for the Bianconeri as once they again they were tripped up by Udinese.

Not for the first time Juve let slip a lead and capitulated in the second half as their hosts completed a comeback in time added on to win 2-1, leaving manager Maurizio Sarri grasping at straws to explain what happened.

“That’s what is happening lately, we’ve lost our organisation and shape. 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 93^rd precisely because we wanted to win at all costs.”

Juve needed just three points to clinch their historic ninth consecutive Scudetto, and will now have an opportunity to do so with a win at home against Sampdoria.

“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.”

The defense has also been historically porous this season with 38 goals shipped, but Sarri feels his side have been hard done by too.

“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.”