Carrera: 'Credit to Fiorentina'

Massimo Carrera credited Fiorentina for forcing a bad performance out of Juventus. “We were unable to do what we wanted to.”

The Bianconeri ended their 100 per cent record in Serie A this season, but the 0-0 draw at the Stadio Franchi stretched their unbeaten League run to 44 games.

“It isn’t always necessary to crush your opponents, as at times you also have to be good at containing them,” argued stand-in Coach Carrera.

“Fiorentina deserve a lot of credit, as they ran hard for 90 minutes and played very well. We were unable to do what we wanted to.

“We knew Fiorentina would put in the performance of a lifetime, so it was a show of strength for us to keep them quiet and maintain the clean sheet.

“We had to block David Pizarro, although we didn’t manage it that often.”

Surprisingly, Andrea Pirlo was substituted in the second half to make way for Paul Pogba just days after he was rested against Chievo.

“We need to find a way he can work more than rest. Playing every three days means Pirlo doesn’t have much time to train, but he is always very important to our team.

“Leonardo Bonucci had a muscular problem in the warm-up, but his performance was excellent.”