Motta takes responsibility for maiden Juventus defeat

Thiago Motta shouldered the blame for Juventus’ first defeat of his tenure after they lost 1-0 to Stuttgart in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Motta, who took charge of Juventus in June, had won six of his first 10 games in all competitions, but watched on as his side were outplayed by the Bundesliga outfit on home soil.

The contest was decided by El Bilal Toure, who notched the winning goal in second-half stoppage time, though the outcome should have been sealed much sooner.

Ermedin Demirovic struck the post while Enzo Millot saw his penalty saved by Mattia Perin, who was comfortably Juventus’ standout player at the Allianz Stadium.

Perin made nine saves, with no Juventus goalkeeper making more in a single Champions League match on record, equalling Christian Abbiati’s nine stops against Bayern Munich back in 2005.

Motta lamented his side’s attacking display, not helped by the absences of Nico Gonzalez, Teun Koopmeiners, Gleison Bremer, Arek Milik and Douglas Luiz through injury.

“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 said.

“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.”

Juventus had just one shot on target against Stuttgart, their fewest in a Champions League game since a 1-0 win against Chelsea in September 2021 (also one).

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When questioned about Juventus’ physical condition, Motta denied there was any difference in the pace of Serie A compared to the other top five leagues in Europe.

“I don’t think we go slow in Italy. Certainly today in this match, we struggled with their rhythm and their game,” Motta 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.”

Juventus now turn their attentions to league action, hoping to return to winning ways at the home of champions Inter, who are a point ahead of them in the table.