Juventus saw their six-match winning run in all competitions come to an end on Friday in a dour 0-0 draw at ACF Fiorentina.
The result meant the champions could see their lead at the top of Serie A trimmed to just a point if second-placed AS Roma defeated struggling US Sassuolo yesterday.
Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri named teenager Kingsley Coman as a surprise starting striker alongside Fernando Llorente, with Carlos Tevez and Alvaro Morata left out of the starting lineup, indicating his thoughts had turned to the Italians’ UEFA Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid on Tuesday.
Friday’s match was in stark contrast to the thriller the two sides served up last season, when Fiorentina came back from 2-0 down to beat the Turin giants 4-2.
Fiorentina, in eighth place and three points off the Champions League places, also saw their best player, Colombian midfielder Juan Cuadrado, limp off with an injury five minutes from time.
Juventus struggled to make any impact and had to wait until after the interval for a first attempt on target when Patrice Evra’s drive was saved by Norberto Neto.
For the home side, Germany international Mario Gomez, who scored his first goal in eight months the previous weekend, was unable to find a way through and was replaced by Babacar Khouma with 20 minutes left.
Fiorentina coach Vincenzo Montella said he knew that Juventus would switch tactics with a 3-5-2 system instead of the flat back four, which had served them so well last month.
“You can’t hide anything nowadays and I’ve noticed that as soon as you test something out in training, it emerges. I had half a thought it might have been a trick, but fortunately the reports were right,” Montella told Sky Sport. “Both teams lacked that final move. I think the statistics show we were equal in everything and that’s a positive confidence-booster for us, as we were technically and tactically on a par with Juventus.”
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