Drained Gigi on bench as Juve crash
JUVENTUS left Gigi Buffon on the bench after his World Cup heartache and paid a heavy price as they crashed 3-2 at Sampdoria in Serie A.
The veteran keeper saw his international career end in agony when Italy were stunned in the playoffs by Sweden last week.
Defender Andrea Barzagli joined Buffon in retiring from Azzurri duty in the aftermath and Juve boss Max Allegri also left him out of the starting line-up yesterday.
Allegri said: “After 15 days with the national team they spent a notable amount of physical and, above all, mental energy.”
The experienced duo were badly missed as Samp romped into a 3-0 lead thanks to Duvan Zapata’s looping header and strikes from Lucas Torreira and Gianmarco Ferrari.
The champions rallied in injury-time with a Gonzalo Higuain penalty and a strike from sub Paulo Dybala. It was too little too late and Juve are now four points behind leaders Napoli who beat AC Milan 2-1 at home on Saturday.
Allegri said: “We have to sort ourselves out, as we are conceding too many goals at the moment, especially away from home.
“This was an unexpected slap that really made us lose our cool. We should’ve been patient, even if things weren’t going our way. It’s a long game, you have to stay calm.”
Allegri also ripped into German midfielder Sami Khedira and blamed him for the decisive third goal.
He said: “If Khedira hadn’t stood there with his hand up appealing for offside, we wouldn’t have conceded. When we slow down the tempo we run huge risks.”
In Spain, second-placed Valencia won 1-0 at Espanyol to sit four points behind leaders Barcelona.
Barca beat Leganes 3-0 on Saturday with Luis Suarez returning to form with a double.
Both Madrid sides are now 10 points adrift of the leaders after Real drew 0-0 at Atletico.
Real skipper Sergio Ramos suffered a broken nose when accidentally kicked in the face by Lucas Hernandez.
But Ramos said: “I would bleed a thousand times for this badge. I’ll be back in no time.”