Motta laments Juventus´ missed opportunities in Fiorentina stalemate

Thiago Motta was left to rue his Juventus side’s missed opportunities as they were held to another Serie A draw against Fiorentina on Sunday.

Khephren Thuram’s opener was cancelled out by the returning Moise Kean before the French midfielder doubled his tally three minutes after the break.

But with Juventus looking set to close the gap on the top four, Riccardo Sottil rifled home a stunning equaliser in the 87th minute to seal a share of the spoils in Turin.

Juventus have now drawn 11 of their 18 Serie A fixtures this season, a record of stalemates across Europe’s top five leagues so far this campaign.

It was also their 21st draw of 2024. Only Perugia in 1979 had more matches finishing level in a single calendar year in Italy’s top-flight than Juventus.

Juventus ended the contest with an expected goals (xG) total of 1.45 from their 15 shots, though only five of those were on target at the Allianz Arena.

“I’m very happy, the idea is to continue attacking and not sit back and concede goals,” Motta told Sky Sport.

“I wouldn’t focus on defensive naivety, but on closing out a game. We must get to the third goal. We can manage it better there.

“They shot very little, in my opinion, and we deserved more, but in the end the result counts. And the result says that we weren’t able to close it out.

“We had many good moments, that’s why I say that the right thing to do was to close it out.”

FT | | It ends in a draw.

Powered by @EASPORTSFC pic.twitter.com/90KILX7AYi

— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) December 29, 2024

Juventus, who remain the only unbeaten team in Serie A this season, stayed sixth in the table, level on 32 points with fifth-placed Fiorentina, who have a game in hand.

They are the first team to go undefeated after the first 18 games of a Serie A campaign since the Bianconeri did so themselves during the 2018-19 campaign.

Motta was asked whether not netting a decisive third goal was due to bad luck, but he disagreed, suggesting his side must be more clinical moving forward.

“No, I don’t believe in these things,” Motta said.

“We definitely need to improve our precision. That’s where the difference is. If the ball goes in, the game is over, otherwise the opposing team stays alive.”

It was also a memorable night for Thuram, who became the first Juventus midfielder to score two goals against Fiorentina in Serie A since Angelo Alessio in 1990.

“We want guys like that, guys who want to finish the game well,” Motta said of Thuram’s performance on Sunday. “These are guys who can drag the others along.”