Sarri: The criticism was excessive and that can act as motivation for us

Maurizio Sarri insists ‘criticism was excessive’ of Juventus, Federico Bernardeschi and Matthijs de Ligt, so he was pleased with the response against Bologna.

The Bianconeri had come under fire after their two goalless Coppa Italia draws with Milan and Napoli, but got back on track with this evening’s 2-0 Serie A victory at the Dall’Ara.

Cristiano Ronaldo converted a penalty after Stefano Denswil had a fistful of Matthijs de Ligt’s shirt, then Paulo Dybala scored a sensational solo effort.

“We were sharper physically tonight, as we kept up the tempo and intensity for 70 minutes, whereas in the Coppa we fell away after 20-30 minutes,” Sarri told Sky Sport Italia.

Federico Bernardeschi provided the assist for Dybala with a back-heel flick and also saw his strike fingertipped on to the far post.

“Fede had done well in his last two substitute appearances, so he gave the impression that he was in good shape. He did well defensively as well as attacking, so I’m pleased for him. He is a lad who is often over-criticised and under-valued.

“We had many chances to kill off the game at 3-0, but our energy ran out towards the end and we had to sit a little deeper. It’s not a philosophical or tactical decision, it’s physiological when the fuel runs low.”

Sarri has been very heavily criticised by fans and pundits, but assures simply relying on the star strikers isn’t viable.

“Having top level individual players means they can resolve the game for you at times, but we need to put the whole team in a situation where they can give their best, but also that we can continue working when the star names are either absent or off form. It’s inevitable they will have some days when they’re not as sharp, we need other options.”

De Ligt was brought down for the penalty, but also did well in clearing dangerous situations.

“Matthijs has become more accustomed to our style of Italian football. He came from Holland, where they didn’t spend much time analysing defending, but he has adapted much faster to Serie A than many other foreign players who came here at his age.

“He’s destined for greatness and will certainly become one of the best defenders in Europe.”

Leonardo Bonucci said after the match that Juventus had an intense discussion behind closed doors after the recent setbacks.

“In football and in life there are opinions and there are facts. If you listened to the opinions, you’d think this team was falling to pieces. If you look at the facts, we’re top of the table,” added Sarri.

“The criticism was excessive and that can act as motivation for us to get back in shape mentally even more than physically, which might take a little longer.”