After 7 consecutive wins between Serie A and Champions League, Juventus was stopped by Lecce. At the Via del Mare Stadium, the teams battled to a 1-1 draw, with penalties scored by Dybala and Mancosu. It was a misstep for the Torino club, as they could lose their hold of first place if Inter defeats Parma. Juve manager Maurizio Sarri spoke to the press after the match.
"In the end we lacked clarity, we played a good match but we missed too many chances. We lacked meanness and managed the lead poorly. We were too passive when we needed to close the match."
On injuries to Pjanic and Higuain: "I don't know how Miralem is doing. Gonzalo is responsive, we'll evaluate more but we hope to have him back with us soon. Cristiano was mentally tired, it was his request. Even bringing him on the bench was useless, he needed a break. We need to go beyond, today we needed to score on the chances we had."
"Are we superficial? I'd say that we were a little light. We gave away a match that we already won. The penalty that Lecce got was casual, it was a natural movement and the ball was already deflected near de Ligt. Unfortunately the new rules put defenders in difficulty in these cases."
"I think that Bentacur has characteristics to do Pjanic's role. He doesn't have his experience but he can play there. Improving the defense? True, but we allowed many goals on set pieces, we don't allow much during play. Inter coming back? I don't look at the standings, there are too many matches ahead and it only would be damaging."
