I hear they´re playing well? – Sarri yet to watch Juventus´ title rivals Inter in action

Juventus boss Maurizio Sarri revealed he has yet to watch Inter in action this season ahead of next week’s top-of-the-table showdown in Serie A.

Reigning Italian champions Juve moved above Inter into top spot with Saturday’s 2-0 win over SPAL at the Allianz Stadium – Conte’s side featuring away to Sampdoria shortly after.

Inter won their first five matches this season and will return to the summit with victory over Sampdoria in their game in hand.

Juve travel to San Siro in eight days but Sarri will not turn focus to that match until after the midweek clash with Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League.

3 POINTS#JuveSPAL #FinoAllaFine #ForzaJuve pic.twitter.com/fk3KvG9bOw

— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) September 28, 2019

“I haven’t actually watched any Inter games this season as we’ve focused mainly on the teams we are facing next,” he told Sky Sport Italia.

“We’ll watch a couple of Bayer Leverkusen matches and then go to dinner.

“I hear that Inter are playing very well? I had no doubt they would considering the quality of the coach and their players. I always said this would be a far more balanced season.”

Juve were frustrated by SPAL keeper Etrit Berisha for large parts of Saturday’s contest, but an impressive hit from Miralem Pjanic and a late header from Cristiano Ronaldo made it three league wins in a row for the Turin giants.

Sarri acknowledged his side were a little off the pace in the first half, despite managing four attempts on target, but was pleased they got the job done on home soil.

“We had a few difficulties finding the right tempo in the opening stages, especially as SPAL were so clammed up,” he said.

27 – Starting from 2007/08, Miralem #Pjanic has scored 27 goals from outside the box, only three players netted more in the top-5 European Leagues in the period:

69 Lionel Messi
54 Cristiano Ronaldo
35 Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Pianist. pic.twitter.com/hlKQgYCurp

— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) September 28, 2019

“It wasn’t the tempo of the players. We moved the ball too slowly and there wasn’t enough movement off the ball.

“It was better in the second half – we created many chances and conceded very few. I was pleased with the determination shown by the players who came off the bench.”

Gonzalo Higuain was left on the bench as Sarri used Ronaldo alongside Paulo Dybala, the latter teeing up his strike partner with a fine delivery to settle the contest.

“Cristiano Ronaldo was lively and created four or five scoring opportunities, while Higuain has been doing well this season.

“It’s good to have three forwards where any combination you choose – you can’t really go wrong.”