Juve boss Spalletti rues ´frankly embarrassing´ first half against Pafos

Luciano Spalletti bemoaned Juventus’ “frankly embarrassing” first-half performance during their victory over Pafos on Wednesday.

The Bianconeri claimed their first home win in this season’s Champions League, after prevailing 2-0 at the Allianz Stadium.

Yet, Juve were booed off at half-time following a disappointing opening 45 minutes. They were fortunate not to fall behind as Anderson Silva struck the post, while Vlad Dragomir and Derrick Luckassen also saw decent chances go begging for Pafos.

Second-half goals from Weston McKennie and Jonathan David eventually got the hosts over the line, but Spalletti was frustrated by his side’s overall display.

“Of course, we need to do more. We are not happy, the lads are not happy with themselves,” he told Sky Sport Italia. “At times, we did the bare minimum. Some situations in the first half were frankly embarrassing.

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“It’s true we allowed Pafos too much in the first half. We also made some cheap errors. Sometimes, it is incredible seeing the mistakes made, realising that our players cannot take advantage of those situations.

“We relaxed a little after the break and were calmer on the ball in making those decisions.”

Despite their lacklustre performance, Juve consolidated their hopes of progressing to the knockout play-offs by climbing to 17th place in the table, three points ahead of Benfica in 25th.

“These are difficult fixtures,” Spalletti added. “Pafos conceded very few goals other than against Bayern Munich [five]. You could see they have quality.

“It was fundamental to get the win, so with a victory, many things look better.”