Ronaldo-less Juve sees unbeaten streak snapped
MILAN — Cristiano Ronaldo was rested and Juventus crashed to its first Serie A loss of the season at Genoa on Sunday following its Champions League heroics, as Inter won a fiery Milan derby 3-2 to move into third place.
Ronaldo fired Juventus into the European quarterfinals, where it will face Ajax, with a hat-trick in a comeback victory against Atletico Madrid last Tuesday.
Without him the Turin team slumped to a 2-0 loss but still remains comfortably on track for an eighth consecutive league title.
Juve’s lead was cut to 15 points by Napoli, which won 4-2 against Udinese after goalkeeper David Ospina collapsed on the pitch after sustaining a head injury.
The on-loan Arsenal goalkeeper was later given the all-clear following a brain scan at a Naples hospital.
Juventus had won 24 of their 27 previous matches in Serie A this season, with three draws.
“It’s not a tragedy, but I’m sorry because we wanted to remain unbeaten,” said Juve boss Massimiliano Allegri.
“You can’t play all the games at your maximum. The Champions League match certainly weighed heavy.”
It was a first league defeat for Juve since April 2018 against Napoli, and first away since losing at Sampdoria in November 2017.
The Italian champion had already been beaten this season by Atalanta in the Coppa Italia and lost in the Champions League to Young Boys and Atletico Madrid.
“Much like the defeat to Atalanta, we picked the right game to lose, because it’s just before the break for international duty, so we have time to unplug and rest,” said Allegri.
Ex-Juventus midfielder Stefano Sturaro, 26, playing his first match after 10 months out with a tendon injury, scored just two minutes after coming off the bench. Another substitute Goran Pandev sealed victory for Genoa with ten minutes to go.
Inter’s derby delight
Meanwhile, Inter enjoyed a 3-2 derby win over AC Milan to move back above its city rival into third.
Matias Vecino and Stefan de Vrij scored at the start of each half for Inter, and Lautaro Martinez converted a penalty, either side of Milan goals from Tiemoue Bakayoko and Mateo Musacchio.
Milan coach Gennaro Gattuso blasted an “unacceptable” sideline bust-up between his midfielders Franck Kessie and Lucas Biglia.
Ivorian Kessie, who had been substituted, and Argentine Biglia had to be pulled apart by teammates.
“The defeat that hurts me the most was Kessie and seeing what happened on the bench,” said Gattuso, after his team’s five-match winning run in the league was ended.
“That is something I cannot accept with the way I see football, the team and the group ethic.”