Pirlo: Juventus must still win while building

Andrea Pirlo insisted this season would not simply be a transition campaign for Juventus, saying he wanted to win.

After just two wins from their opening five Serie A games, Juve also suffered a 2-0 loss to Barcelona in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Pirlo, who took charge in August, said while the Italian giants were rebuilding, he still wanted to win.

“No, it’s a year in which we’re building, but we want to try and reach results. I’m not here to build without winning,” the Juve coach told a news conference.

“Maybe we will need a bit more time, but we have to know that results must come through a certain type of play style that maybe we are struggling to assimilate.”

Goals from Ousmane Dembele and Lionel Messi either side of Merih Demiral’s red card saw Barca to their win in Turin.

Juve forward Alvaro Morata incredibly saw three strikes ruled out for offside.

FT |  | Full-time at the Allianz. #JuveBarça #JuveUCL #ForzaJuve pic.twitter.com/PwDkdGqImj

— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) October 28, 2020

The defeat was just Juventus’ second home loss in their past 25 Champions League group-stage games.

Pirlo said the encounter showed just how much his team had to improve.

“We have to improve a lot in terms of attitude, in being good at playing this kind of game,” he said.

“For many players it was one of those games they had never played, one of the first appearances in Champions League and therefore the difference in terms of personality and skill at playing this kind of game becomes visible.

“We will need this to improve in the future.”

Juve visit Spezia in Serie A action on Sunday.