rewrite this title Spalletti: Tiredness not a factor in Juve´s second-half slump against Genoa – Soccer News

Luciano Spalletti pushed back the suggestion that tiredness within his Juventus team contributed to their drop in performance during Monday’s 2-0 victory over Genoa.

Juventus moved to within one point of the Champions League places after their win at Allianz Stadium, which was secured by two goals early on in the match.

Bremer’s fourth-minute header opened the scoring for Spalletti’s side before Weston McKennie rounded off a sweeping counter-attack with a smart finish 13 minutes later.

McKennie then missed two glorious chances either side of half-time from inside the six-yard box before Jonathan David’s shot from distance thundered against the left post.

However, Juventus’ lack of intensity after the break almost came back to bite them when Bremer fouled Aaron Martin inside the box, with the decision eventually given after a VAR review having seen a free-kick originally awarded.

But half-time substitute Michele Di Gregorio did brilliantly to deny Martin from 12 yards, before jumping back to his feet to repel the Spaniard’s volley moments later.

There were complaints that some of Juventus’ squad looked tired, which Spalletti insisted could not be the case as his players received extra time off in the build-up to the match.

“It wasn’t tiredness, we didn’t train yesterday or the day before,” Spalletti told Sky after full-time, as quoted by Football Italia.

“I left them alone because they needed to recover. They had two days off, a training session and a half, and then they took a break, so that’s not the case.”

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Despite Spalletti’s concerns, it was a positive day for Juventus, who pulled three points clear of sixth-placed Roma, who were beaten by leaders Inter on Sunday.

Spalletti also became the fourth manager to win 300 games in Serie A, after Giovanni Trapattoni (352), Massimiliano Allegri (320) and Nereo Rocco (302).

Juventus have also now won three of their last four Serie A games (D1), as many victories as they had in their previous eight (D2 L3), though the Bianconeri boss conceded that he still does not always know what kind of performance he is going to get from his players.

“Sometimes we have to accept that we aren’t the best versions of ourselves. After six or seven months here, I’m still not sure what I’m dealing with,” Spalletti added.

“It’s not possible to have a first half like that and then a second half like that. And if they go ahead and score the penalty, it becomes a very difficult evening.”

Juventus return to league action on Saturday against Atalanta, with fellow clashes against European-chasing Bologna and AC Milan to come in their next three matches.