‘Has anybody seen Juve?’: Italian newspapers lay into Andrea Pirlo’s side after their uninspiring performance in Champions League defeat by Barcelona
- Juventus endured a miserable night against Barcelona in the Champions League
- Andrea Pirlo’s 10 men were beaten 2-0 thanks to goals from Messi and Dembele
- Alvaro Morata had three goals ruled out for offside while Demiral was sent off
- The Italian press have demanded they need ‘much more’ in wake of the defeat
Juventus have come under heavy criticism from the Italian press in the aftermath of their 2-0 defeat by Barcelona in the Champions League with Andrea Pirlo’s side accused of ‘going missing’ in Turin.
Without their talisman Cristiano Ronaldo, the Italian side struggled to keep up with their Catalan counterparts after Ousmane Dembele broke the deadlock with a deflected shot before Lionel Messi rounded off the scoring with a penalty in stoppage time.
Their misery was compounded when Merih Demiral was sent off for two bookable offences – capping off a dismal night for Pirlo and Co.
Juventus endured a miserable night in Turin against Barcelona in the Champions League
Italian paper Tuttosport asked if ‘anyone had seen Juve?’ after the 2-0 defeat for Pirlo’s (R) men
Italian news outlet Tuttosport slammed the uninspiring performance at the Allianz Stadium, asking its readers: ‘Has anyone seen Juve?’
While it was noted that Alvaro Morata had three goals ruled out for offside, the newspaper demanded more from Pirlo’s men if they are to go further in the competition.
La Gazzetta dello Sport and Corriere dello Sport both lead with the headline ‘Juve caught offside’ before hitting out at the club’s sub-par display on Wednesday evening.
Gazzetta dello Sport and Corriere dello Sport slammed Juve, saying they were ‘caught offside’
It was a frustrating night for Alvaro Morata (left), who had three goals ruled out for offside
Leonardo Bonucci – the club’s stand-in captain against Barcelona – urged his team-mates to ‘grit our teeth’ and ‘turn things around’ after the game.
‘It’s the moment when we need to grit our teeth, work together and get the best out of ourselves,’ Bonucci told Sky Sport Italia.
‘The results have not been up to our standards lately. We knew it was tough, even if both teams were missing a lot of players, but we made too many technical mistakes and that made it easier for Barcelona.
‘There’s a long road ahead of us, we know that we could’ve done more this evening, including myself, even if I was struggling.
Leonardo Bonucci urged his team-mates to ‘turn things around’ after the disappointing defeat
‘What makes me hope is that desire to do something more with the ball at our feet. It means you take more risks and can give chances away, but it’s something we need to work on.’
The defeat is a further blow to Juve’s Champions League title hopes, given they were easily bypassed by a fellow European giant that are also aiming to go all the way in the competition.
The disappointing result comes just days after Barcelona’s defeat by Real Madrid in El Clasico, with many Juventus supporters hoping this would be the perfect time to strike while the iron was hot.
Ousmane Dembele (centre right) broke the deadlock for Barcelona with his deflected effort
Lionel Messi (right) sealed all three points for the visitors with a penalty in the 91st minute
However, with Barcelona’s villainous president Josep Bartomeu now out of the picture, it appears things may be on the up for Ronald Koeman’s side.
‘The result could have been more,’ said Koeman. ‘The only thing missing was to kill the game before. Antoine is unlucky tonight. At least we created the chances. We just have to keep working.’
Wednesday night’s triumph puts Messi and Co at the summit of Group G, ahead of Juve, Dynamo Kiev and Ferencvaros.
