21 March 2021
The Bianconeri were beaten 1-0 by Benevento at Allianz Stadium after a second-half goal from Adolfo Gaich. Fabio Paratici and Andrea Pirlo had this to say when they spoke after the contest.
FABIO PARATICI
“We’ve given the fans a lot of joy over recent years but today, unfortunately, we’ve really disappointed them. We turned in a poor performance for many reasons – sometimes you cannot understand every one of them. The league campaign continues, however – we have to keep our heads down, plug away, understand what our mistakes were and try not to make them again. There are many aspects to analyse and that’s what we’ll do over the next two weeks. The fact remains that we didn't perform to our standard and we’re disappointed about that. We have top players who are used to handling pressure – we just have to keep our heads down and work. It's not a game that changes our ideas. We have a plan and a direction that we have taken, not only at the start of this year but also from the start of the previous campaign. We will keep going in that direction. We're happy with what we've done, with what we're doing and we'll continue along this path, working to improve, of course. [Cristiano] Ronaldo? He's the best in the world and we're holding on to him. We've been here for eleven years and we've always won and made changes, including through difficult decisions that led to subsequent projects. I hear people talk about the cycle being over, but since I've been here there have been numerous cycles and we've continued to win, taking risks. The word transition doesn't exist at Juventus – we always play to win. Some seasons go better than others, but the word transition doesn't exist. Seasons are important even if they’re about growth that yields results in the subsequent years.”
ANDREA PIRLO
“We needed to turn in a better display but we performed poorly, in every aspect of our game. Everything was off today, in our attitude and in technical situations. We knew this would be tough, because Benevento are an organised team, who defend effectively with two compact lines. What we needed was to stay calm and make better use of the flanks, but we made a lot of mistakes. When the result is hanging in the balance, panic can start to set in and that wasn't the attitude required. We also needed a little extra desire to get the result, because there was a real opportunity for us to close to gap in the league. We have to change our mindset: we wear a jersey of huge importance, which must always be honoured. Our attitude has to be different in games like this.”
