Juventus manager Maurizio Sarrsi has expressed his disappointment after losing to Napoli on penalties in the final of the Coppa Italia 2019-20 at an empty Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Wednesday and said that his team lacked “brilliance”.
“There is disappointment for the boys, for the club, for the fans, but this is a particular moment, both for the physical condition and for some important absences,” the club’s official website quoted Sarri as saying.
“Today we made different choices than usual, pressing less high to have a better grip at a distance and we played the game with good levels of application. At this moment, however, we lack brilliance to make the game dangerous, and without that brilliance, it becomes more difficult to jump the man, which our players are normally used to doing easily, and finding other solutions,” he added.
Sarri also spoke about the Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo who is yet to show his usual prowess since the resumption of top-flight football in Italy. “Ronaldo’s in the same shape as the others, like Paulo Dybala and Douglas Costa, he is lacking the sharpness to do what works best for him,” the former Chelsea boss said.
Ronaldo continued his patchy form as he had missed the first genuine chance of the game to score in the sixth minute. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner failed to break the deadlock, having also missed a penalty in the semi-final against AC Milan last weekend.
The final had ended goalless after the play of 120 minutes and stoppage time. For the 13-time Italian champions, Paulo Dybala and Danilo missed from the penalty spot before Arkadiusz Milik scored the winner past veteran Gianluigi Buffon to give Napoli their first major trophy since 2014.
It was the new coach Gennaro Gattuso’s first trophy after he joined in December last year replacing Carlo Ancelotti.