Juventus on Wednesday crashed to a humiliating 2-0 defeat at Cagliari, days after sealing their ninth consecutive Serie A title, prompting coach Maurizio Sarri to consider fielding his under-23 team in tomorrow’s finale to conserve resources ahead of their UEFA Champions League challenge.
Cagliari’s 20-year-old forward Luca Gagliano tapped in the opener eight minutes into his first Serie A match, beating veteran Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon to score his first top-division goal.
The Italian then teed up Giovanni Simeone in first-half stoppage-time to give Cagliari their first win over Juventus in 11 years.
Photo: Reuters
“The 40 goals conceded [this season] may be a concern, but tonight’s game is not,” Sarri said.
“We had nine injured and we came from a championship won 68 hours ago, so it was an atypical game that should be taken for what it is,” he said.
“We are the only ones in Europe who have played five games in 12 days, the league has created big problems for us. Let’s see how we are tomorrow and if it is appropriate to line up the under-23 team on Saturday against [AS] Roma to recover better,” he added.
Cristiano Ronaldo missed the chance to keep pace with Serie A’s leading scorer Ciro Immobile, the Portuguese now four goals behind the SS Lazio forward’s tally of 35 with one match remaining.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner had a goal ruled offside after 16 minutes and was denied twice by Cagliari goalkeeper Alessio Cragno as the 13th-placed Sardinians ended their eight-match winless run.
It was a worrying performance for Sarri’s side, who have won just two of their past seven games, with key forwards Paulo Dybala and Douglas Costa fighting for fitness ahead of the Champions League showdown with Olympique Lyonnais on Friday next week in Turin, when they need to overturn a 1-0 first-leg deficit.
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