“We must not get down.” Locatelli reacts to Juventus loss to Manchester City | OneFootball

Juventus suffered a heavy 5-2 defeat at the hands of Manchester City in their final Club World Cup group stage game, and while the result was disappointing, midfielder Manuel Locatelli is urging calm within the squad. Rather than dwelling on the loss, the Italian international believes it’s more important to analyse the mistakes and quickly move forward.

With qualification to the next phase of the tournament already secured, manager Igor Tudor decided to rest several key players. It was an opportunity for the second string to prove their worth, but instead, they struggled to match the tempo, chemistry, and precision of their English opponents.

Locatelli Calls for Perspective After Defeat

City were dominant throughout the contest, showing their superiority with a well-oiled performance that overwhelmed Juventus in all departments. Still, Locatelli insists the team must maintain perspective and focus on the bigger picture rather than letting the defeat affect morale.

Speaking after the match, the midfielder offered a pragmatic view, stating via Tuttojuve:

“Bad game, we will analyse what we did wrong. Now we have to recover our energy and think about the next game. We must not get down, but analyse where we went wrong. It is clear that we made many mistakes, but we must look forward. As we have always done, we do not talk about objectives but think about doing the best possible. To go all the way you have to face the strongest teams.”

(Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

Focus Turns to the Knockout Stage

Despite the result, Juventus are through to the next round, and this match could serve as a valuable reality check. The heavy rotation might explain the disjointed performance, but it also exposed some limitations in squad depth and cohesion when key starters are absent.

Tudor will now look to refocus the group ahead of the knockout phase. The expectation is that Juventus will return to their strongest lineup, and players like Locatelli will be pivotal in helping the team bounce back. Learning from this loss is essential if they are to progress further and challenge for the trophy.