Leonardo Bonucci admits Juventus results ‘have not been up to our standards lately’ after a 2-0 Champions League home defeat to Barcelona.
The Bianconeri were unlucky to see three Alvaro Morata goals ruled offside, but also offered precious little else in attack against a largely dominant Barca side.
Ousmane Dembele opened the scoring early with a deflected effort off Federico Chiesa, then Federico Bernardeschi crashed into the back of Ansu Fati for a stoppage-time Lionel Messi penalty.
Merih Demiral also saw red for two bookable offences, while Paulo Dybala, Chiesa and Dejan Kulusevski were largely anonymous.
“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.
“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.”
Giorgio Chiellini and Cristiano Ronaldo were sorely missed this evening, as many of the starting XI were in their first Champions League season.
“It’s natural we have new players with little European experience, so we have to grow game by game. We’re missing some important players, we play every three days and the fatigue is starting to make itself felt.
“As I said, we have to push together, get united and start again in a few days.”
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Source: m.allfootballapp.com