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Juventus suffered a 3-0 loss at home to Fiorentina on Tuesday and Andrea Pirlo admitted his team was not focused heading into the game.
Andrea Pirlo refused to blame the dismissal of Juan Cuadrado for Juventus’ big loss at home to Fiorentina instead he questioned the attitude of his players heading into the game.
Biggest home loss since 2011
Juve suffered their first Serie A loss to Pirlo in his thirteenth league game in office, losing 3-0 in what was also their biggest loss since moving to Allianz Stadium in 2011.
Cuadrado caught Gaetano Castrovilli on the shin and received a red card in his 200th appearance with the Turin giants – uyellow gradient after a VAR check – with only 18 minutes on the clock.
Dusan Vlahovic had given Fiorentina an early lead at the time and Juve were unable to respond, conceding again via Alex Sandro’s own goal and Martín Cáceres’ touch.
Juve had a pair of rejected penalty appeals in Tuesday’s game, the last one in 2020, but Pirlo admitted his team simply didn’t show up.
“What happened with the red card cannot be used as an alibi,” he told Sky Sport Italia. “The result was not due to the attitude of Fiorentina, but to the lack of ours.
“When this is the case, you face bad situations like this. In the games before Christmas it can happen, so you have your mind on the holidays. We were out of focus and couldn’t recover.
“The images of the expulsion seem clear to me. There could have been some decisions in our favor but that’s not something I want to comment on, you can see for yourself.
Juve had more possession than Fiorentina (54 percent) and more shots (13-10), but eventually saw a 13-game unbeaten streak that came to an eerie halt.
Leonardo Bonucci, in particular, fought – The experienced defender arguably is to blame for the three opposition goals.
He lost possession six times in total and won only half of his 10 games, but Pirlo was by his boss’s side at full time.
“Everyone has bad nights like these,” he said. “So far he has done great performances.
“It happens to everyone. He is our captain and we still have a lot of faith in him. “
Juve suffered a title double blow on Tuesday, this loss to Fiorentina came hours after Napoli won their appeal against the abandoned October match between the teams.
Napoli lost the defeat canceled
The bianconeri had claimed a 3-0 victory after Napoli did not show up due to a travel ban implemented by local authorities after Piotr Zielinski, Eljif Elmas and a staff member tested positive for COVID-19.
But the Collegio di Garanzia dello Sport of the Italian National Olympic Committee, the country’s highest sports authority, ruled in favor of Napoli, which means the game must be replayed in early 2021.
Therefore, Juve is three points worse, now seven drifting from Milan leaders, and Pirlo questioned the fairness of the decision.
“We don’t mind playing again. I’m more disappointed by the other teams that have traveled and played without many more players who had covid,” he said. “Anyway, they showed great fairness playing.
“I will not say if the decision was correct or not, but it did not seem fair to the other teams that continued and played in more difficult situations.”
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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