Empoli Coach Marco Giampaolo admits Juventus surprised him with their more negative approach. “They preserved energy.”

The Tuscans were defeated 1-0 by a Mario Mandzukic header, but had more possession in Turin.

“We lost and therefore I am not satisfied,” Giampaolo told Mediaset Premium.

“We started out waiting for events to unfold, then did better and took the initiative. I liked the way the team built up pressure as the game wore on.

Empoli Coach Marco Giampaolo admits Juventus surprised him with their more negative approach. “They preserved energy.”

The Tuscans were defeated 1-0 by a Mario Mandzukic header, but had more possession in Turin.

“We lost and therefore I am not satisfied,” Giampaolo told Mediaset Premium.

“We started out waiting for events to unfold, then did better and took the initiative. I liked the way the team built up pressure as the game wore on.

“Unfortunately the deadlock was broken by the quality of the Juventus players, even if we could’ve done better on the goal.

“I expected Juve to come and attack us high up the field, but instead they tried to control us and preserved energy. We were lacking something and should’ve made them run harder.”

Empoli also lost Riccardo Saponara to a calf injury in the second half.

“He went off as a precaution, but I don’t believe it’s anything particularly serious. We have to earn more self-belief and the run of 12 games without a win means worry starts to set in. We need a win to just shake that off.”

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