Juventus lost 1-0 at home to VfB Stuttgart in the Champions League on Tuesday, their first loss of the season.
Coach Thiago Motta accepted responsibility for his team’s poor performance.
Stuttgart dominated Juventus, who had just won two Champions League titles.
Had it not been for goalie Mattia Perin’s heroics, Juventus may have lost more badly, and their attack only mustered one shot on goal.
With Nico Gonzalez, Teun Koopmeiners, Gleison Bremer, Arek Milik, and Douglas Luiz out due to injuries, Motta feels his team needs to get better in every way.
“I agree we need to do more in attack to compete with a team like Stuttgart, but in order to play well we need to be much better in defending than tonight,” Motta told Sky Sport Italia.
“We struggled to build anything and were not in a condition to do well.
“A team has to defend well so it can recover the ball and then use it well.
“We suffered out of possession, while the most we managed in attack was a few counters.
” I take responsibility for that, we must improve for the next games.”
When asked about the physical state of his team, the former Italy international denied that Italy’s teams’ pace differed from that of other teams in Europe’s top club league.
“I don’t think we go slow in Italy. Certainly today in this match, we struggled with their rhythm and their game,” he said.
“There are many things to analyse about Italian and international football … teams that want to have the ball, high rhythm and low rhythm.
“This is the level.”
Third-place Juventus will try to recover on Sunday against Serie A champions Inter Milan, who lead the Turin team by one point.
