(Reuters) – Juventus manager Thiago Motta was critical of his forwards as his side had to settle for a 0-0 draw at Club Brugge in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Juve, who have now drawn more than half of their 30 games in all competitions this season, struggled to create clear-cut chances and slipped to 14th in the 36-team table, further away from the last-16 qualification spots.
While the Italian coach has recovered several players from injury, he also expects his strikers to create more scoring chances.
“Finally, we are starting to get some players back from injury, above all in attack,” Motta told Sky Sports.
“We started with Samuel Mbangula, Nico Gonzalez and Timothy Weah, then Kenan Yildiz, Dusan Vlahovic and Francisco Conceicao came on.
“These are all players who can give us something more. Our forwards are the ones who at the moment have to contribute more to the team.”
Despite their 16th draw in 30 games across all competitions this season, Motta had words of praise for Manuel Locatelli and his defensive role, as well as Douglas Luiz in midfield.
“It is a way of staying balanced, Manu understands the right moment to drop deep or push forward,” he said.
“Douglas Luiz is a player with superior technical quality, in good shape physically right now and did very well in recent matches,” Motta added of the Brazilian midfielder.
(Reporting by Janina Nuno Rios in Mexico City; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
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