Juventus boss Andrea Pirlo tore into his players after their shock 3-0 loss at home to Fiorentina on Tuesday night - accusing them of 'having their mind of the holidays'.
The Turin side endured a nightmare start to the game after Dusan Vlahovic netted the opener in the first few minutes before Juan Cuadrado was given an early bath with just 18 minutes gone - providing an uphill task for Juventus.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Co were unable to spark a turnaround, and the visitors made sure of all three points after Alex Sandro's late own goal, before Martin Caceres scored against his former club to add gloss to the scoreline.
Juventus are hoping for a tenth successive Scudetto this season after the club decided to sack Maurizio Sarri - who was not a popular figure in Turin - but the Italian was actually 11 points better off at the same stage this time last year.
After the game, a fuming Pirlo refused to blame their red card for the defeat and believes Fiorentina simply wanted to win more than his side - claiming the players had their focus elsewhere.
'What happened with the red card cannot be used as an alibi,' he said, speaking to Sky Sport Italia. 'The result was not down to Fiorentina's attitude but the lack of ours.
'When this is the case you face bad situations like this. In games before Christmas it can happen then you have your mind on the holidays. We were unfocused and could not recover.'
Cuadrado was initially given a yellow card for his challenge on Gaetano Castrovilli - catching him on the shin - but after a VAR review the referee upgraded it to a red card, and Pirlo admitted he had no qualms with the decision.
'The images for the sending off seem clear to me. There could have been some decisions in our favour, but that's not something I want to comment on – you can see for yourself.'
It was a bad evening in particular for centre-back Leonardo Bonucci - often so reliable but arguably at fault for all three of the goals on the night. Pirlo, however, insisted he still had faith in his skipper.
'Bad evenings like these happen to everyone,' he said. 'Up until this point he has made some great performances.
'It happens to everyone. He is our captain and we still have great faith in him.'
Juventus had been in decent form up until this game, winning five from their last six - including an impressive victory over Barcelona.
But they now find themselves flailing in the title race after Italian authorities ruled that their 3-0 win over Napoli in October - forfeited by the Naples outfit after a COVID-19 outbreak - must now be replayed.
'We don't mind playing the game again,' added Pirlo. 'I'm more disappointed for the other teams that have travelled and played without far more players who had Covid. They showed great fairness by playing anyway.
'I won't say if the ruling was correct or not, but it didn't seem fair to the other teams who carried on and played in more difficult situations.'
sheshe01
115
Always blaming his players what a pity