Sarri: 'Juve defence improving'

By Football Italia staff

Maurizio Sarri explained why he started Federico Bernardeschi against Bayer Leverkusen, praised Juan Cuadrado and Juventus defending.

The Bianconeri unusually left most of the possession to the Germans, but were never really at risk, as Gonzalo Higuain, Federico Bernardeschi and Cristiano Ronaldo got the goals for a 3-0 victory.

Juve had drawn their opener 2-2 away to Atletico Madrid, while Atleti today earned a 2-0 win at Lokomotiv Moscow.

“I liked the way Bernardeschi trained over the last few days, Aaron Ramsey needed a rest, and we knew his pace would be of use,” the Coach told Sky Sport Italia.

“It was difficult, as Bayer love possession and they are not easy to face, so they took a lot of energy out of us in the first half. After the break, they slowed down a little and we took control.

“Cuadrado is growing into the role of right-back and everyone benefited from that. Matthijs de Ligt is growing exponentially. The defence moved well, although we can do better, and Bayer kept possession, but did nothing in the final third.

“Cuadrado is defending and attacking in the right way, he never left us unbalanced. The only area where he can improve in this role is in one-on-one situations, as he goes to ground too easily and gets booked with unnecessary tackles. I am sure that working with Andrea Barzagli, he’ll improve on that too.”

There had been reports Sarri would start Paulo Dybala, Higuain and Cristiano Ronaldo together.

“If I am sitting in a bar, it seems like a good idea to me too. If I am on the bench, then I have to take the balance of the side into consideration.

“If the team in future finds a great deal of balance, then we can try it, but right now that seems premature.”

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