Napoli showed unexpected courage and defended well, Juventus coach Thiago Motta said after the visitors held his side to another goalless draw in Serie A on Saturday.
Juventus started its campaign with two convincing 3-0 wins against Como and Hellas Verona but has failed to score in the league ever since, recording three 0-0 draws so far in September.
“I expected this attitude (of Napoli), although they played at our home and I didn’t expect them to be as courageous as they normally are,” Motta told a press conference.
“(Whether it was) their strategy or our merit, we found ourselves with the team with a low defensive block in the penalty area and therefore difficult to attack.
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“It’s not a question of filling (the box) but of attacking it at the right time,” Motta said. “Today, however, we faced a team that knows how to defend the penalty area well. When a team closes up, it’s not easy to score. Today we didn’t make much use of outside shots.
“In my opinion today we did better than in the match against AS Roma. Inside the box, today it was difficult against a team that defends well with defenders who are strong in the area... We had a good performance but not enough to win,” the former Inter Milan player added.
The last time Juventus drew three games in a row without scoring a goal was in 1992, under Giovanni Trapattoni.
Juventus finished the game with one shot on target and striker Dusan Vlahovic, goalless in his fourth consecutive game across all competitions, was substituted at halftime.
“It’s difficult to win without scoring, we needed an extra contribution from us midfielders too,” said Weston McKennie. “(Vlahovic) won’t be happy but the whole team must put him in a position to score.”
Juventus travel to 11th-placed Genoa next Saturday before it visits RB Leipzig in the Champions League on October 2.
Conte urges Napoli to improve attack
Napoli manager Antonio Conte said he was “moderately satisfied” with his team’s goalless draw at Juventus on Saturday but stressed the need for better ball execution.
Napoli arrived in Turin on the back of a three-match winning streak in Serie A but fell short of capitalising on several good chances, despite solid defensive efforts.
“I realise the difficulty of getting a draw away to Juventus, a team that was 18 points away from Napoli last season,” Conte told DAZN.
“We worked on this system, I am moderately satisfied with the defence, but we could’ve done far better in attack and I think we had the clearest scoring opportunities.”
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Striker Romelu Lukaku, who had shown being effective in front of goal since joining Napoli recently, struggled against Juve and was substituted near the end.
“I think we did it well with the midfielders. Romelu still needs to get into the kind of shape that I require,” Conte said. “I had asked for consistency and it was a good performance in terms of focus, but we can and must do better when we have the ball, as there were some favourable situations.”
Reflecting on his past tenure at Juve from 2011 to 2014, Conte acknowledged the challenge of playing at Allianz Stadium.
“I know it is not easy to play here, which is why I made this stadium a fortress during my time,” he concluded.
Napoli host Monza in next round of games after it faces Palermo in the second round of Coppa Italia on Thursday.
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