Andrea Pirlo reacted to Juventus’ defeat against Porto and revealed that Morata is ill and needed to lie down at the end of the match.
No manager could ever be happy with his team after a display lacking the quality that Juventus clearly have. Naturally, Andrea Pirlo was quite upset with the Bianconeri’s poor performance this Wednesday night in Portugal.
“When you concede a goal after one minute, a strange one at that, it’s natural the players will lose confidence, especially against a side that knows how to clam up in defense,” said Pirlo.
“Porto got the game immediately on the track they wanted. With such a packed fixture list, it’s normal you can’t always maintain absolute focus and the right tempo. But it shouldn’t have happened in the Round of 16 of the Champions League.”
Additionally, Juventus’ players clearly struggled physically, with Chiellini leaving the pitch injured still in the first half. To make matters worse, Danilo’s yellow card means he won’t be able to feature in the second leg at the Allianz Stadium in Turin. Moreover, Pirlo confessed Alvaro Morata wasn’t at his best and even needed some immediate rest right after the game.
“Matthijs De Ligt fortunately just had a cramp. Chiellini has a calf problem and Morata wasn’t in good shape before. Then he was sore at the end too, so we’ll see.
“Morata hasn’t been at his best since returning from a bout of flu. He was only playing tonight because we needed him. Morata felt ill in the locker room afterwards. He felt faint and needed a lie-down, so he is not doing well.”
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