Published 13:04 IST, December 23rd 2020
Andrea Pirlo questions Juventus' 'attitude' after humiliating loss to Fiorentina
Juventus manager Andrea Pirlo has slammed his players' attitude after losing out to Fiorentina, bringing an end to their undefeated run in Serie A.
- SportFit
- 3 min read
Defending Serie A champions Juventus arrived in the game against Fiorentina as only the second undefeated side in Europe, apart from current league leaders AC Milan. But the 'Old Lady' squandered the opportunity to stay unbeaten after failing to survive Fiorentina's attacking prowess at the Allianz Stadium on Tuesday. Manager Andrea Pirlo was left frustrated after the defeat as he lashed out at his players for their attitude on the field.
Cuadrado red card spells trouble for Juventus vs Fiorentina
Juventus suffered a major setback in the third minute of the game when Franck Ribery provided a scintillating pass to Dusan Vlahovic, who netted the opener. Pirlo's men had a forgettable night with further pressure mounting on them after Juan Cuadrado was sent off in the 18th minute.
The Colombian midfielder was initially awarded a yellow card for catching Gaetano Castrovilli with his studs up. A replay of the incident compelled the referee to show a direct red, bringing down Juventus' strength to 10 men. In the 76th minute, Sofyan Amrabat attempted a scintillating shot only to be blocked by Wojciech Szczęsny with Ribery playing it towards Cristiano Biraghi.
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Pirlo refuses to pin blame on Cuadrado red card, slams Juventus' attitude
Biraghi struck a shot at goal which was deflected by Alex Sandro, resulting in an own goal. Biraghi played a key role in the third goal again when Martin Caceres fired in an open net to seal the three points from the tie, while also ending Juventus' unbeaten run in the competition.
Pirlo was frustrated with the defeat and lashed at out at his players. He did not give credence to the idea that Cuadrado's red card had a detrimental impact on the Serie A results. "In games before Christmas, it can happen when you have your mind on the holidays. We were unfocused and could not recover", said the manager after the game while speaking to Sky Sports Italia.
Juventus sit fourth in Serie A standings
Pirlo also spoke on Cuadrado's sending off, insisting that the images were very clear to him. He claimed some decisions could have been in their favour, but he would prefer to rather keep quite on the same. Leonardo Bonucci had one of the worst games in the competition, with his fault in all three goals. But Pirlo does not pin the blame on the skipper, insisting that every player suffers on some days. The defeat sees Juventus stay put fourth in the Serie A standings with 24 points in 13 games.
Image courtesy: Juventus website
Updated 13:04 IST, December 23rd 2020