Sarri says Juve forwards were kept isolated in Coppa Italia draw against Milan

Juventus manager Maurizio Sarri has said that the club’s forwards were kept isolated at different stages of the Coppa Italia semi-final clash at AC Milan. The Bianconeri made the trip to San Siro for the first leg of the contest and they managed to come up with a 1-1 draw after Cristiano Ronaldo’s late penalty goal cancelled out Ante Rebic’s opener in the 61st minute.

Speaking after the game, Sarri was impressed with the application of the team during the opening half where they came under pressure of the hosts. However, he added that his players were keeping hold of the ball for longer periods of time and that isolated the frontmen including Ronaldo, who was a quiet figure until he scored an injury-time penalty.
“We came out well in the first half, especially since we were under pressure from our opponents. At times we kept the ball too much instead of passing. We left Ronaldo too isolated as well. We didn’t construct play well from the back, which would have helped out the midfielders. And this the forwards around themselves too isolated. We have to get the ball to Ronaldo in good positions as he has no problem scoring goals,” he told.
Milan were down to 10 men after the sending-off of Theo Hernandez in the 71st minute and that was definitely a huge plus for the Bianconeri during the final quarter of the game. Despite this, they managed only four shots on target for the entire game and that should definitely frustrate the Bianconeri boss.
Still, there are positives from the fact that they were able to find the crucial away goal during the closing stages of the game and that should put them in a strong position to reach the final of Coppa Italia. Sarri’s side will win the double-legged semi-final in normal time, so long as they outscore the Rossoneri or settle for a 0-0 draw in Turin. A 1-1 stalemate could take the tie to penalties, if the scores remain level after added extra-time.