Luciano Spalletti has slammed his Juventus side, saying they took “three steps back” in their Champions League defeat to Galatasaray.
The Bianconeri lost 5-2 in the first leg of their play-off tie, while they also saw half-time substitute Juan Cabal receive two yellow cards with 23 minutes still to play.
Juve became the first team in Champions League history to receive 30 red cards, while Cabal was the fourth Juve substitute to be sent off, the most for one team in the competition.
They have now failed to win all four of their Champions League away games against Galatasaray (D1 L3). Against no other team have they played more often on the road in the competition and never won.
Spalletti did not hold back in his criticism of his side, with their chances of reaching the last 16 now hanging by a thread.
“We ended the first half badly, tried to get back into shape and changed a few things, but we really dropped off in terms of character,” Spalletti told Sky Sport Italia.
“It was not one step back, but three steps back this evening. Clearly, Cambiaso risked a second yellow card at the end of the first half.
“In these games, when you have someone on a card, it is wise to do something with the substitutions.
“However, we received two more yellow cards in the first 15 or so minutes, then we did further damage to ourselves by not recognising the danger in those situations.”
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Cabal replaced Andrea Cambiaso at the break as Spalletti sought to protect the latter from a second booking, only for the substitute to receive his marching orders.
And Galatasaray’s fourth goal was handed to them as Juventus overplayed the ball in their own box before Lloyd Kelly was dispossessed and Noa Lang scored.
“I want them to play the ball in normal situations, but when there is extreme danger, you kick it away,” added Spalletti.
“I want us to create something going forward, not just breaking up the play. Not every situation is the same, sometimes you kick it away and release some pressure. I like to play the ball in general, but there are different situations.
“When down to 10 men, that’s a difficult situation. We made the substitution to take pressure off one player and his replacement received two yellow cards in 20 minutes. That makes everything tougher.
“Quite apart from the cards, the whole team took a few steps back in various ways today.”