Thiago Motta after Juventus’ Coppa Italia loss to Empoli: “We’ve hit rock bottom” | OneFootball

Serie A giants Juventus were knocked out of the Coppa Italia yesterday at the hands of Empoli and Thiago Motta came across as rather resigned in defeat after the tie.

The game had ended 1-1 in extra time and the Azzurri picked up a massive upset win on penalties. With that, Juve have now been knocked out of the Champions League and the Coppa Italia in a week and there is little chance of them winning the title, meaning that they will have to settle for a trophyless season.

Motta spoke after the game and stated that he is ashamed about the result and the crowd was kind on the players and the performance.

He told Mediaset, via Gazzetta: “I feel ashamed. We played a first half that made me feel ashamed and I hope my players feel the same. We can get everything wrong but not our attitude like this. And then I’m wrong because I didn’t make the players understand the importance of this match and of wearing this shirt.”

He also urged for the players to give an immediate response to the disaster of a loss.

“Psychological repercussions? No and I hope the criticism is really strong. The crowd was far too kind to us after what we saw in the first half. I hope for an immediate reaction from the players. I repeat, I feel ashamed for what I saw on the field today, especially in the first half.”

He described the loss as something that shouldn’t be associated with Juve, also taking responsibility of the defeat.

“Today on the pitch we gave nothing. We played with the goalkeeper at least 20 times, without taking any responsibility. It’s unacceptable. We just need to apologize to the fans, to the club and to the history of this club. We’ve hit rock bottom.”

If Juve had won, they would have taken on Bologna in the semi-final. But now, they would have to settle for playing as well as they can in the league.

Kaustubh Pandey I GIFN