Ancelotti laments wasted opportunity and Napoli´s poor performance against Juve

Carlo Ancelotti said he would have been disappointed even if Napoli had rescued a 3-3 draw against Juventus after his team were heartbreakingly denied a miracle comeback in Turin.

Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly scored a 92nd-minute own goal as Serie A champions Juventus survived to prevail 4-3 in Saturday’s breathtaking showdown.

Juventus looked on track for an emphatic victory thanks to goals from Danilo, Gonzalo Higuain and Cristiano Ronaldo, until Kostas Manolas, Hirving Lozano and Giovanni Di Lorenzo all scored in a stunning Napoli rally.

Manolas and Lozano were on target in quick succession to give Napoli hope before Di Lorenzo equalised with nine minutes remaining, only for Koulibaly to divert a Juve free-kick into his own net.

Ancelotti was not a happy man following the last-gasp defeat as he lamented a wasted opportunity and Napoli’s poor performance at the Allianz Stadium.

“Juventus have so much character and quality, we know that they always step up in the crunch moments of the season. We can compete, but we wasted an opportunity today, above all that [there was an] hour where we just didn’t play. That is really disappointing,” Ancelotti, whose Napoli have scored and conceded seven goals in two games, told Sky Sport Italia.

“I would’ve been disappointed even if it had ended 3-3, because the performance remained the same. Koulibaly won’t go on international duty, so he has the chance to train and focus on finding his form during the next couple of weeks.”

 @MrAncelotti: “The comeback is the only positive. I’m disappointed with the overall performance”
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 #JuventusNapoli 4-3
 #ForzaNapoliSempre pic.twitter.com/NtvPqMui5N

— Official SSC Napoli (@en_sscnapoli) August 31, 2019

Ancelotti added: “It was not a positive test, as we played badly for an hour. It seemed over, we got it back on track and it could’ve ended 3-3 or 4-3, it wouldn’t have changed the fact our performance was insufficient.

“The game changed because Juve focused on the counter-attack after going 3-0 up and we took more control of the ball. Lozano added more weight to the attack, but it wasn’t just his introduction.

“We allowed Juve to press us, Fabian Ruiz was left isolated throughout the first half and we never found him, because the spaces to go on the counter were there, we just didn’t use them.

“The defence was in place with seven or eight players in the final third on the Gonzalo Higuain and Cristiano Ronaldo goals, so it’s not as if we were caught on the counter then.

“We were unable to find Fabian Ruiz, but we did better after the break when we moved things around and he was able to hurt them.

“The defence is not an individual issue or one of technique. We have conceded seven goals in two rounds because the whole team aren’t sacrificing themselves enough to help out.”