Serie A weekend talking points - Juve toothless and Milan edge derby
NO WIN AGAIN FOR TOOTHLESS JUVE
Juventus failed to register a single shot on target in the second half of their 1-1 draw at Fiorentina, giving coach Massimiliano Allegri a lot to think about before they travel to Paris St Germain to kick off their Champions League campaign.
A quick goal deflated the Turin-based side instead of sharpening their attack, as Allegri's men once more failed to turn the early opener into three points.
Juve had total four attempts at goal - one on target - against 17 shots by Fiorentina, letting their opponents control the possession as well (60%-40%).
"The thing to improve absolutely is that when you have the ball for 2-0, you have to do it," Allegri said.
"Those are the heavy balls that decide the championships and we still don't have this badness. You can miss the shot, but I didn't see (the right attitude)."
CONSISTENCY AN ISSUE FOR RIVALS MILAN AND INTER
Inter need to work on conceding less and most importantly on delivering a consistent performance to avoid another defeat like their 3-2 loss to local rivals AC Milan on Saturday.
"We had a blackout of half an hour which cost us two goals," Inter manager Simone Inzaghi said.
Inter also struggled to score without the services of forward Romelu Lukaku (29), who missed the Milan derby through injury.
"We did a lot to score two goals, they scored three goals which were too easy," Inzaghi added.
Consistency seemed to be a problem also for defending champions Milan as things could have taken a turn for the worse if it had not been for the superb performance of keeper Mike Maignan (27).
Maignan was the man of the hour in the last 25 minutes of the match as he fended off a few Inter efforts after the rest of the team started succumbing to pressure.
"For 70 minutes it was a really beautiful game... then we thought the match was over and we need to learn from this mistake," Milan manager Stefano Pioli said.
KVARATSKHELIA STRIKES AGAIN FOR NAPOLI
Napoli's investments in the summer transfer window paid off in their 2-1 win at Lazio on Saturday with goals by new signings Kim Min-Jae (25) and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (21).
The latter has already been involved in five Serie A goals, more than any other player at the club in his first four appearances as a starter since Napoli returned to the Italian top-flight from the 2007-2008 season.
However, there is no rest for the wicked as Napoli manager Luciano Spalletti expects more from the Georgia international.
"He can become even lighter... but he should be happy," Spalletti said.
ROMA SHOULD BE MORE LIKE UDINESE
Roma manager Jose Mourinho does not want to point fingers but rather work as a team to fix the several mistakes his side made in their humiliating 4-0 defeat at Udinese on Sunday, with the hosts proving to be an example to follow.
"We gifted the win with individual mistakes which in turn become collective ... the individual mistakes become my mistakes," Mourinho said.
"Udinese... are good at everything, are good at defending, managing the timing of the match, counter-attacking ... at Roma we don't have this quality."