Leonardo Bonucci called for the team ‘to unite’ following their loss to Barcelona last night, seeming to intimate that Juventus’ squad is not in agreement at present.

Merih Demiral got himself sent off yesterday after receiving a second yellow card, while Danilo gave away a terrible penalty in the latter stages of the game, allowing the European giants to close out the result, closing off a terrible October for Juventus, which returned just one win from four fixtures.

Leo Bonucci stepped in as captain last night, with both Cristiano Ronaldo and Giorgio Chiellini both ruled out, but he was unable to guide his side to a result, and called for his team to come together following on from their struggles, which tells me that player’s are not on the same page, before saying ‘too many mistakes’ were made during their defeat.

Bonucci said after the loss (via Juventus official website): “It is time to grit our teeth, to unite, and bring out the best in ourselves, because we get results that are not up to us.

“We played against a great team, but we made too many mistakes on a technical level and Barcelona are unforgiving. We could have done something more, but the thing that gives me hope is the desire we have to play with the ball at our feet and I’m sure that improving from a technical point of view will be a great season. We miss important players, it’s not an excuse, it’s reality, but in four days we’ll be back on the pitch and we’ll try to do better.”

The team will be hoping that captain Ronaldo will be able to pass as negative for the Coronavirus ahead of the weekend, and help lift our spirits after the loss, but if there is underlying issues within the squad, the manager may well have a struggle on his hands.

Was Bonucci admitting to issues in the dressing room?

Patrick