Locatelli takes responsibility for Juventus defeat to Milan

Manuel Locatelli took responsibility for Juventus’ collapse against Milan when he gave away the penalty, but also admits the team ‘lacks the maturity’ to see games out.

The Bianconeri had looked in complete control in Riyadh for the Supercoppa Italiana semi-final, taking the early lead through a Kenan Yildiz scorcher into the top corner.

But after Locatelli brought down Christian Pulisic for the penalty, Juve crumbled and within four minutes lost 2-1 when Federico Gatti deflected a Yunus Musah cross past Michele Di Gregorio.

“I made a mistake that was decisive because I didn’t see Pulisic coming. It gave Milan hope and we didn’t have the strength to react, so we threw away a game we had in hand. Locatelli told Sport Mediaset.

Check out the Football Italia Player Ratings for Juventus 1-2 Milan

The Italian media point to the moment Thiago Motta decided to take off striker Dusan Vlahovic in the 65th minute.^th minute as another turning point, sending a message to Juventus that they might not score another goal.

“I’m sure you will analyze these things, but all I can do is analyze what we did on the pitch and it starts with my mistake,” insisted Locatelli, who was captain tonight.

Locatelli admits Juventus have a problem

Juventus also looked in control against Fiorentina in Serie A last week only to crumble to a 2-2 draw, so is this repeated pattern indicative of a deeper problem?

“I think we lack the maturity to control the game, but above all to get the second goal and kill the game. It’s part of a process, we don’t have much time to learn and make mistakes, so we are have to speed it up.

“We had faith that we would win it, but this is football and we have to move on.”

Milan face Inter in the Supercoppa Italiana final in Riyadh on Monday night, kicking off at 19:00 GMT.

Juventus and Atalanta return home from Saudi Arabia with their Supercoppa experience over after losing in the semi-finals.