Andrea Pirlo has claimed Juventus lacked the experience required to close out the game with Verona, and said the Old Lady are in an “emergency situation” when asked if they are too reliant on Cristiano Ronaldo for goals.
Ronaldo netted his 19th goal of the Serie A season to fire Juve ahead, but they were pegged back by an Antonin Barak header in a 1-1 draw on Saturday.
The draw leaves Juve seven points adrift of leaders Inter, and Pirlo pointed to a lack of experience in his side.
What was said?
“It’s disappointing, as we knew it would be a difficult and hard-fought game," Pirlo told DAZN . "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.
“When you are in front, you must try to bring these games home. We were missing a lot of experienced players, so the younger elements didn’t understand the way the match was going.
"I asked Cristiano and Alex Sandro to speak to them and make their voices heard, but it wasn’t enough.”
Is Pirlo justified in his thinking?
Juventus have defensive problems, with Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci, Danilo and Juan Cuadrado all absent for the trip to Verona.
There was a youthful makeup to the team, with six of the starting 11 aged 25 or under.
But as well as Ronaldo, Wojciech Szczesny, Alex Sandro, Federico Bernardeschi and Aaron Ramsey have a wealth of experience to draw on.
Ronaldo on target again
Juventus have struggled for goals when Ronaldo has not been on target, and Pirlo admitted the side are missing the absent pair of Alvaro Morata and Paulo Dybala.
When asked if Juve were overly reliant on Ronaldo, Pirlo said: “We’re in an emergency situation, but 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.”
