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Juventus boss Andrea Pirlo believes his team were held to a 1-1 draw against Hellas Verona due to the lack of experienced personnel at his disposal.
The Old Lady dropped points for the second time in three Serie A games, as Cristiano Ronaldo's well-taken strike was not enough to claim a much-needed victory. Verona's rise in intensity and a creative spark down the wings left Juventus unsettled, eventually leading to Antonin Barak's equaliser.
As a result, Juventus are now seven points adrift of league leaders Inter Milan, who have accumulated four wins on the spin.
While Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci are out injured, the absence of Alvaro Morata and Paulo Dybala meant Juventus were short-staffed at both ends of the pitch.
Pirlo blamed his players for their lack of composure on the pitch, ruing their relative lack of experience out in the middle. The Juventus legend said in this regard:
“It’s disappointing, as we knew it would be a difficult and hard-fought game. We managed to take the lead, which was the most difficult part, then didn’t keep hold of it. There are these small details that unfortunately young players don’t understand can make the difference and lead to points."
On the missing players that led to a forced tactical tweak, Pirlo said:
“I thought about moving to four at the back, but I looked at the bench and didn’t really have the options to change. I saw some players who were starting to get tired after the hour mark, but that was to be expected. We’re in an emergency situation, but we'll try to work well with what we have. It’s not just us who miss players like Paulo Dybala and Alvaro Morata, but any team would miss them.”
Indeed, Morata, who has four league goals and seven assists this campaign, has been one of Juventus' creator-in-chief, complementing the efforts of Ronaldo up front.
Profligate Juventus punished by impressive Hellas Verona
Juventus had a few opportunities to extend their lead after Ronaldo broke the deadlock.
Instead, their profligacy meant they fell prey to Verona's pressing and counter-attacking, especially appearing increasingly susceptible on the break. A lot of sideways passing from Juventus resulting in Verona's backline emerging unscathed after conceding the opener.
The Juventus boss acknowledged the same, observing in this regard:
“In the second half, we no longer had the energy to keep pressing them, and the spaces opened up for Verona. We know the intensity of Verona forces teams to use up a lot of energy, and we were playing many games in quick succession; there werem't enough players, so fatigue was going to be an issue."
Andrea Pirlo's Juventus will hope to return to winning ways when they host 16th-placed Spezia on March 2.
Also Read: Juventus News Roundup: Juve in race with Barcelona for a Premier League forward, Former Real Madrid striker says Cristiano Ronaldo has been a 'failure' for Bianconeri, and more - 27 February 2021
