Luciano Spalletti was frustrated by Juventus’ lack of quality and sharpness but believes his side are more confident in the Champions League ahead of the play-offs.
Juventus’ place in the play-offs was secured before kick-off against Monaco, with the sides drawing 0-0 at Stade Louis-II.
It was a poor performance for Juve, who failed to get any of their five shots on target and finished the match with 0.2 expected goals (xG). They ended a run of 37 games in the Champions League with at least one of their attempts hitting the target.
Monaco, meanwhile, had a goal disallowed and missed a brilliant chance after being given an opening by Mattia Perin’s wayward pass, but the Ligue 1 side managed to muscle their way into the play-offs alongside Juventus.
Spalletti’s side are unbeaten in five Champions League games (W3 D2), the longest streak in the competition since March-November 2021 (five wins).
But the Italian head coach believes fatigue played a major role in their poor performance.
“Some fatigue started to build up, so I made changes to find a bit more sharpness and create a better pace,” Spalletti told Sky Sport Italia.
“We didn’t succeed, but we did face a team that kept forcing us to sprint back a hundred meters with pace and aggression; their counter-attacks really tire you out.
“Those who came in didn’t do too badly, but as the quality level of the whole group dropped, so did the individual performances.”
Juventus failed to win their first four matches in the Champions League (D3 L1) this season, but finished with three wins and another draw in the last four.
The Bianconeri finished thirteenth in the table and will face Club Brugge or Galatasaray for a place in the last sixteen.
If they win after that, they would face Liverpool or Tottenham in the knockout stages proper.
“There is more self-confidence now; that’s how you prove who you are,” Spalletti added.
“We need to create a sense of consistency, but we haven’t done that [against Monaco]in terms of pace, firmness and playing with width when we did have the ball.
“It was a rough game; they were aggressive, we misplaced too many passes so there was a lack of quality. We went too slow and it gives me something to talk about with the team.”
“Defensively we did well against their counter-attacks, but we should have had more quality from midfield.”
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