Juventus coach, Maurizio Sarri, has demanded that Matthijs de Ligt has no responsibility regarding their poor first-half presentation, as they beat Inter Milan.
He hailed Gianluigi Buffon’s display.
Buffon made three saves in a shoot-out to hand Juve a 4-3 triumph on penalties, following a 1-1 draw on Wednesday’s International Champions Cup game in China.
De Ligt’s own goal 10 minutes into his first Bianconeri start gave Inter the lead, with the new signing diverting into Juve’s net from Stefano Sensi’s corner.
Sarri’s side leveled through Cristiano Ronaldo’s deflected free-kick in the subsequent half.
“Buffon’s great strength is that he’s a born fighter. He was ready when called upon and was extraordinary in the shoot-out.
“Ronaldo had the usual excellent performance. We can improve a great deal in our attacking moves and that would make it easier for him.
“We can improve, particularly on pressing high to win the ball back when defending. We must focus on defending by going forward, not allowing them to get behind us.
“It’s normal that it takes a while to change that mentality. I made a mistake this morning, as I got them to have a 45-minute training session, but we felt it in this heat,” Sarri told Sportitalia.
