Juventus right-back Danilo slammed his side’s mentality after Milan came from behind to hold the record-time Serie A champions to a 1-1 draw tonight. The hosts’ hopes of landing their first league victory of the season were off to a flying start, but their inability to hold onto a lead came back to haunt them again.
Alvaro Morata fired Juventus into the lead just four minutes into the match. But as it’s often been the case this season, the Bianconeri failed to capitalize on drawing first blood. Ante Rebic drew Milan level in the 76th minute before Pierre Kalulu squandered a golden opportunity to complete the turnaround in the dying moments.
It’s been the third time in four Serie A matches this season that Juventus broke the deadlock but ended up empty-handed. Massimiliano Allegri’s side turned a 2-0 half-time lead into a 2-2 draw against Udinese on the opening matchday. The Turin giants were 1-0 up at the break against Napoli last weekend, only to find themselves at the wrong end of the 2-1 scoreline at the final whistle.
Unfortunately for Allegri, it looks like his players have developed a habit of blowing things up in the second half. After losing seven points from leading positions in the opening four league matches, Juventus face the genuine risk of finding themselves out of the title race already in September.
Danilo believes that Juventus have a psychological problem rather than a fitness one.
“I agree with the coach that we need to be more of a team because we are struggling not for the performances but the results. We must be intelligent and realize what caused these results,” the Brazilian told DAZN, as cited by TUTTOmercatoWEB.
“We played well the first half, kept possession, pressed high, and did what we prepared during the week. In the second half, we had to keep that intensity up, but we conceded an avoidable goal.“
Juventus could be trailing a top-placed side by ten minutes if Napoli come out on top of their Monday’s match against Udinese at Dacia Arena.