Juventus suffered a shock Coppa Italia defeat which has left its mark on the club, but they now want to use their anger to help them earn maximum points from their Serie A game against Hellas Verona, manager Thiago Motta said on Sunday.
Empoli stunned the Juventus Stadium when they knocked the holders out of the Coppa Italia at the quarter-final stage after a penalty shootout on Wednesday.
“Losing a game like we lost is not easy but it is our duty to think about the next match, train and be ready to face our opponent at our best,” Motta told reporters ahead of Monday’s home game with Verona.
“It will be complicated, but at the same time we have energy and desire to transform this anger of ours and show that we are superior on the pitch and get the three points.”
Motta was furious after the Empoli defeat, when he spoke of feeling shame and hoped the players did the same, ahead of their bid for a fourth successive league win.
“There is a huge disappointment on everyone’s part, we didn’t take responsibility on the pitch, we put ourselves in great difficulty,” Motta said.
“We messed up on something that shouldn’t be messed up. I see the players every day and I know how much effort they put in, which is why I was angry the other day.
“We have talked, we have always discussed in a positive way to be constructive, we know that there are 12 games left where one by one we will face them at our best so as not to repeat what happened against Empoli.”
Juventus are fourth in the standings on 49 points, six behind Atalanta in third. Verona are 14th on 26 points, four points above the relegation zone.
