Juventus boss Antonio Conte has blamed “fatigue” for their 1-0 loss to AS Roma on Saturday following their midweek UEFA Champions League away clash with Celtic.
The Old Lady, who defeated the Scottish champions 3-0 in Glasgow in midweek, missed the chance to move eight points clear in Serie A, as Francesco Totti netted the decisive 58th minute winner.
“I already said before the Fiorentina game that we certainly didn’t like playing three games in seven days,” Conte said.
He added: “We were bound to pay for that with fatigue and one more day would’ve helped us to rest and reorganise. This is the only excuse I can give for today, as we did not play as a team and when we do that anyone can beat us.
“Compliments to Roma, it was a good victory. This is a new Roma, so we didn’t have much to go on in preparing for them. I wish I’d had more information, as we could’ve done better.
“We have regrets that there was not one more day to prepare and recover our fitness levels. I hope in future when the fixture lists are drawn up there can be a little more respect for a club that is taking Italy forward in Europe.”
Totti was full of praise for his side, who he said showed great character.
“Only with great character could we beat a team like Juventus. It was normal that at the start we were timid, as we are coming off a very difficult time and Juve are among the best teams in Europe,” Totti said.
“We held out in the first half, then stepped up and were able to get the victory.”