Rome: Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri said that his team were sleepy in the second-half and that he hopes their 3-1 defeat at AS Roma on Sunday will shake them from their slumber.
Juventus failed to get the point they needed to win Serie A for the sixth time in a row despite taking a first-half lead against the second-placed side. They now need three points from their final two games to clinch the title.
“In the second half, I realised after the first few passes that we were falling asleep, we were gifting them the ball,” Allegri told reporters.
“It will do us good because we have to pick ourselves up again for Wednesday and then the game against Crotone,” said Allegri, whose side meet Lazio in the Coppa Italia final on Wednesday.
“We did well in the first half but in the second, we dropped our levels of concentration.”
The Old Lady are chasing a league, cup and Champions League treble and Allegri has rotated the squad to keep his players fresh. They drew their previous league games against Atalanta and Torino.
“I don’t think the change of players can explain this result,” he said. “We did well in the first-half. You just have to remember we were up against the second team in the competition.
“I think we let our guard drop and thought we’d done enough to take the result home. The fact we drew with Atalanta and Torino, then lost here, it shows we’ve lost something in terms of concentration.”
Despite heading in for half-time on equal terms after Daniele De Rossi levelled Mario Lemina’s 21st minute opener for the visitors, Juventus were stunned by a pair of second-half strikes from Stephan El Shaarawy and Radja Nainggolan.
Roma’s 26th win of the campaign moved Luciano Spalletti’s men back up to second place, only four points off the lead, to sit one point ahead of Napoli, who saw Jose Callejon hit a brace in a 5-0 rout at Torino earlier.
It kept the capital side in contention for the league’s second automatic Champions League spot and, to boot, ended Juve’s hopes of celebrating at the ground of their bitter league rivals.
“After Napoli’s win (earlier), the league standings started to worry us a little,” said Roma captain De Rossi.
“Juve started well and we went down a goal. All they needed was a draw, but we responded well.
“It was a great game, and a great night.”
