High-flying Juventus crash back to earth with Genoa defeat
Cristiano Ronaldo was rested after his hat-trick had fired Juventus into the European quarter-finals with a comeback victory over Atletico Madrid.
But Massimiliano Allegri conceded that the win in Turin had taken its toll even if his side still remain 18 points clear on the top of the table before Napoli’s game against Udinese later on Sunday.
“It’s not a tragedy, but I’m sorry because we wanted to remain unbeaten,” said Allegri.
“The Champions League match certainly weighed heavy,” he said. “You can’t play all the games at your maximum.
“In the first half we risked conceding a goal twice, while we did better in the second, when they dropped a little bit, but we conceded goals and gave away the second straight after the restart.
“A defeat could have happened (at any time) and it is better that it happened today, now we will have time to rest, recover our energy and the injured players.”
Juventus had won 24 of their 27 previous matches in Serie A this season with three draws, including a 1-1 stalemate against Genoa in the reverse fixture in Turin.
It was the first league defeat on Allegri’s side since April 2018 against Napoli, and first away since losing at Sampdoria in November 2017.
– ‘Time to unplug’ –
The Italian champions had already been beaten this season by Atalanta in the Coppa Italia and lost in the Champions League to Young Boys in the group stage and Atletico Madrid in the last-16 first leg.
“The defeat could do us good, because maybe we thought we already had the league in our pockets and instead we still have to get five victories,” continued Allegri.
“Much like the Coppa Italia defeat to Atalanta, we picked the right game to lose, because it’s just before the break for international duty, so we have time to unplug and rest.”
In addition to Ronaldo, Allegri rested key players including defender Giorgio Chiellini and goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny with former Genoa goalkeeper Mattia Perin taking his place between the posts.
Italian international Sturaro, 26, was playing his first game after ten months out with a tendon injury, and scored just two minutes after coming off the bench. Another substitute Goran Pandev sealed victory with ten minutes to go.