‘Converting Spotkicks Has Always Been His Trademark, As Sarri Opens Up On Ronaldo Penalty Miss

Juventus ‘ 0 – 0 draw with 10-man Milan, was all but enough to help them progress to the Coppa Italia final

Juventus head coach Maurizio Sarri was pleased with “unlucky” Cristiano Ronaldo after the maestro missed a penalty in the early minutes of the Coppa Italia semi-final decider against rival Milan.

Ronaldo hit the post with a 16th-minute penalty as the game ended 0-0 at home to 10-man Milan in the second leg en route to the Coppa Italia final on Friday.

Juve’s Ronaldo scored a penalty to redeem a 1-1 draw away to Milan in February’s opening leg prior to the coronavirus pandemic putting a pause to all football related activities, but he was unable to repeat the feat behind closed doors in Turin lastnight.

Speaking to Rai Sport following the first official match in Italy since the return from the Covid-19 outbreak, Sarri said: “I asked Ronaldo to take up a new role in the central position, and he was pleased to try it out and played to his capacity at the interim”

“He (Ronaldo) rarely misses a penalty, so hitting the inside of the post shows how ill luck played a part on him tonight, Sarri claims”.

“I don’t see any much impact it will have on him playing him more metres upfront in the central position. There was a burst of energy in the opening 30 minutes and soon it all faded away.”

Reigning Serie A champions Juventus will come up against the winner of the 2nd semifinal match between Napoli and Inter in the Coppa Italia final in Rome on June 17 and Sarri added: “obviously after three months, getting back to the arena and seeing the teams out there comes with a good feeling, even without the presence of the fans.

“Our first 30 minutes into the game was of full of purpose and energy, as we moved the ball so quickly and outrightly dominated the game, even before the red card”.

“Thereafter, our tempo, intensity and mental determination slowly began to decline, and that was but a risk in an empty stadium where you have no fans to jeer you up. We were up and doing in the course of the game, but then it happened we started slowing down and showed signs of fatigue.

“The positive is that we made our opponent played into our game plan. Truth is that, getting back on track at 100 per cent with our sharpness and mentality will take some time . If you compare it to a pre-season game, it’d be early July, but this is worse than pre-season, because it was a much longer break.

“It’ll take some patience, positive mindset and hardwork to get back on track but the first 30 minutes I saw today was an excellent sign of good things to come, Sarri opined”