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Despite Cristiano Ronaldo getting on the scoresheet, Juventus and Verona shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw in the Serie A last night. Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring for Juventus in the 49th minute, but Verona kept pushing and finally equalized in the 77th minute thanks to a goal from Antonin Barak.
This draw saw Juventus lose more ground in the title race as they are now seven points behind league leaders Inter Milan. The Bianconeri had many senior players like Danilo, Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci missing. The lack of experience showed as the younger Juventus players did not show enough composure on the pitch to see out the game.
Speaking after the draw, Andrea Pirlo said:
“It’s disappointing, as we knew it would be a difficult and hard-fought game. We managed to take the lead, which was the most difficult part, then didn’t keep hold of it.
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“There are these small details that unfortunately young players don’t understand can make the difference and lead to points.
“When you are in front, you must try to bring these games home. We were missing a lot of experienced players, so the younger elements didn’t understand the way the match was going. I asked Cristiano Ronaldo and Alex Sandro to speak to them and make their voices heard, but it wasn’t enough.”
Juventus have a decisive few weeks coming up to salvage their season. In Serie A, they face Spezia and Lazio before welcoming Porto for an all-important Round-of-16 second leg UEFA Champions League clash.
While Cristiano Ronaldo has been firing on all cylinders for the Old Lady, Pirlo will be hoping that his other players step up to the plate and start putting in match-winning performances. While Cristiano Ronaldo grabbed his 26th goal of the season, Pirlo did talk about missing the likes of Alvaro Morata and Paulo Dybala:
“We’re in an emergency situation, but try to work well with what we have. It’s not just us who miss players like Paulo Dybala and Alvaro Morata, but any team would miss them.”
With this result, Juventus' hopes of winning another Serie A title is hanging by a slim thread. The match against Porto in the UEFA Champions League will be even more significant now and Cristiano Ronaldo will have to step up once again if Juve are to progress to the quarterfinals.
Best Tweets from Verona 1-1 Juventus
Cristiano Ronaldo is an absolute phenomenon
Also Read: Hellas Verona 1-1 Juventus: Player ratings as defending champions drop points again
