Gianluigi Buffon has urged them to produce
performances worthy of the shirt.
Gianluigi Buffon has called on Juventus to do the shirt justice
as they aim to turn around their disappointing form
in Saturday's derby with city rivals Torino.
The defending champions are 12th in Serie A - 11 points behind
leaders Roma - after slipping to their fourth league defeat of the
season with a 1-0 loss at Sassuolo on Wednesday.
Nicola Sansone's 20th-minute effort put Sassuolo ahead and
Juve, who had defender Giorgio Chiellini sent off in the 39th
minute, were unable to find a way back.
Speaking in the aftermath of the defeat, Juve captain Buffon
told Mediaset Premium: "We all played badly. The first half was
simply unacceptable.
"I am stunned, as I am the captain and it hurts my soul to see
my team dominated like that, to see my team not realise how
important this game is and what attitude to take.
"There was also too much arguing with the referee. Talking
about the referee all the time is what losers do and we do not
stoop to that level. We wear the Juventus shirt and must do it
justice."
Juve's poor league form sees them three points behind ninth-
placed Torino in the table but Massimiliano Allegri's men can
go in with some confidence given their home record in this
fixture.
The Scudetto holders have not lost at home in the derby since
Torino completed a double over Juve with a 2-1 away win in
April 1995.
Torino did beat Juve 2-1 at the Stadio Olimpico di Torino last
season but are without a win in four games having twice
squandered a lead in Wednesday's 3-3 draw with Genoa.
Giampiero Ventura's men were ahead 2-1 and 3-2 in that match,
but Diego Laxalt's 94th-minute leveller earned Genoa a point.
And Ventura said after the draw with Genoa: "We must rethink
some things. It is a step closer to our goal even if the draw is
certainly not positive.
"It is clear that something did not work. Now we will see what
we did wrong, we will analyse this match and try to correct.
Definitely we could do better.
"We'll go there [Juventus] with some players tired but I am sure
that we will prepare for the game and contest it as a derby
requires."
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