Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri has admitted his team’s Serie A title hopes have vanished following a 1-0 home defeat to Inter.
The hosts dominated the action, ending with 23 shots to Inter’s five, but were unable to hit the back of the net.
The deciding goal was surrounded by controversy, as Hakan Calhanoglu’s penalty was saved in first-half stoppage time, with the rebound scrambled in, before VAR and the referee determined that other players had infiltrated the box too early, necessitating a retake of the penalty.
Calhanoglu made no mistake with his second attempt, smashing his effort into the bottom-left corner for what proved to be the match-winning goal.
Allegri told DAZN following the defeat that the setback effectively ended Juventus‘ chances of fighting for the Scudetto this season.
“From now on we can say that Juventus are definitively cut off from the Scudetto,” he said.
“Now we have to score as many points as possible for fourth place, and then prepare to get off to a good start next year to win the championship.
“We got off to a bad start, and we have recovered many points, but in the decisive matches the [results] have condemned us.”
“[It was] a good match – a good performance – we created a lot, and shot a lot on goal,” he said.
“Too bad for the defeat, [but] there is room for improvement.
“We have to see the glass half full – the boys have grown up and we have become an important team. We have to work on the technical improvement of the team and try to score as many points as possible… Roma are only five points [behind us].”
Inter now sit third, trailing both AC Milan and Napoli by three points.
