Juventus held to a disappointing draw by a spirited Verona side.
Juventus have been held to a 1-1 draw by Hellas Verona, with the early lead from Cristiano Ronaldo going in vain.
It wasn’t the kind of performance expected from the Old Lady especially when they were coming on the back of a 3-0 win against Crotone.
Prior to it, Juve had suffered defeats against Napoli in Serie A and experienced a Champions League setback against Porto. They have very average run in their last five games, winning only one with two draws and two losses.
Ronaldo put the Bianconeri upfront early on in the second half and the goal marked his 19th of the season. The Portuguese ace is currently the top scorer of Serie A, leading that list with two goals ahead of Romelu Lukaku.
However, much to Ronaldo’s dismay, his strike was cancelled out by a late header from Antonio Barak, who equalised for Verona.
Despite the lacklustre draw, Ronaldo’s rich vein of form continued and it is the only positive Andrea Pirlo can take out of the result.
Juve are currently third in Serie A table, trailing AC Milan by three points and seven points adrift of leaders Inter Milan.
Pirlo, surprisingly, stated that lack of experience in Juve’s line up led to the draw.
“It’s disappointing, as we knew it would be a difficult and hard-fought game. We managed to take the lead, which was the most difficult part, then didn’t keep hold of it.
“There are these small details that unfortunately young players don’t understand can make the difference and lead to points.
“When you are in front, you must try to bring these games home. We were missing a lot of experienced players, so the younger elements didn’t understand the way the match was going.”
