Juventus struggles in Sarri’s touchline debut at Fiorentina

Maurizio Sarri had a disappointing touchline debut with Juventus in a 0-0 draw at Fiorentina as the eight-time defending champion dropped its first points in the Serie A on Saturday.

Fiorentina's Franck Ribéry, Federico Chiesa and unheralded Gaetano Castrovilli caused problems for Juventus but the Tuscan squad could not quite finish off its numerous chances.

Sarri watched Juventus' opening two matches from home with pneumonia, and the coach will surely not have liked what he saw up close.

The Bianconeri seemed to struggle fitness wise after the international break.

Juventus stalwarts Douglas Costa and Miralem Pjanic each limped off with apparent hamstring injuries in the first half and newly signed right back Danilo exited with cramps midway through the second.

Heat was a factor with the temperature inside Artemio Franchi Stadium reaching 32 degrees (90 F), prompting cooling breaks midway through each half.

The closest Cristiano Ronaldo came to scoring for Juventus was a bicycle kick effort that went high in the 85th — although he was judged offside anyway.

Still, Juventus moved atop the table with seven points, one more than Inter Milan, Torino and Napoli, which beat Sampdoria 2-0.

Fiorentina picked up its first point under its new owner, Italian-American cable television executive Rocco Commisso.

Inter can move top with a win over Udinese later while Torino hosts promoted Lecce on Monday.

Juventus plays its Champions League opener at Atletico Madrid on Wednesday.

MERTENS MAGIC

Dries Mertens scored both and also hit the crossbar as Napoli beat visiting Sampdoria 2-0 to warm up for a Champions League game against titleholder Liverpool.

The Belgium international got his first by redirecting a cross from Giovanni Di Lorenzo inside the near post in the 13th.

Four minutes later, Mertens hit the underside of the crossbar but somehow the ball didn't go in.

Mertens' second in the 67th came with help from the VAR, which determined that substitute Fernando Llorente was not offside when he set up the score into an empty net.