Juventus managed to scrape out a draw from under Napoli’s noses, thanks to Federico Chiesa’s opportune 54th minute strike that cancelled out Dries Mertens’ sublime first-half finish. Both teams were marred by absentees, especially Napoli, who traveled to Turin without nine players.
The result means Juventus stick to their fifth position, as opposed to Napoli who failed to close the gap on Inter and Milan.
Bianconeri midfielder Manuel Locatelli believes the team will ‘regret’ the opportunity to have failed to overcome Luciano Spalletti’s side.
Speaking to DAZN, Locatelli shed light on the draw between the two giants and pushed his team to excel in the upcoming matchdays.
“I think we have some regret, because we wanted to win. It’s a pity we went behind and we wanted to win, especially at home. We played with intensity, which is what the coach asked for, and are trying to achieve that for 90 minutes to bring home important points.
It’s an important month and could be decisive, because there are some head-to-head clashes and we need to pick up as many points as possible.”
Juventus face quickfire matches this month – first against Roma in Serie A on January 9, before encountering Derby D’Italia rivals Inter in the Supercoppa Italiana final on January 13.
Napoli clash against Sampdoria next, before facing Fiorentina in the Coppa Italia Round of 16.