Maurizio Sarri: Juventus Need More 'Aggressiveness' After Atletico UCL Draw

Juventus manager Maurizio Sarri said his team need to show more "aggressiveness and attention" following their 2-2 draw with Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday. 

The Italian champions were in control of the contest at the Wanda Metropolitano after goals from Juan Cuadrado and Blaise Matuidi gave them a two-goal advantage. However, Atletico battled back, with Stefan Savic and Hector Herrera netting from set pieces to earn a point for the La Liga outfit.

Speaking after the game, a frustrated Sarri referenced a number of areas where he feels his players need to make strides, per Adam Hamdani of The Independent:

"It's a pity we drew the match because we had the game in our hand for a long time. We need to improve in our aggressiveness and attention.

"The feeling is that it is not a question of form, because if you are passive, you are passive even marking yourself. Things were on display that we implement every day in training, but conceding these goals too is punishing."

Here are the highlights of what was a thrilling encounter:

Atletico appeared to have been nullified by the Italian champions, and when Cuadrado struck the opening goal, Juventus were able to counter-attack effectively. It was from that type of situation that Matuidi extended their lead and seemingly made the game safe.

To see a smart tactical plan undone by set pieces would have annoyed Sarri. His team were unable to cope with Atletico's physicality from corners late on, with Savic and Herrera guiding pinpoint headers past Wojciech Szczesny.

Per OptaPaolo, Juventus have issues with set pieces:

"The cliche would be to switch to man-marking, but I don't think that makes sense," Sarri said to Sky Sport Italia (h/t Football Italia) about his zonal marking setup. "We need to be more aggressive on set plays. Atleti are very good in the air, but the ball was so weak and we were too passive, as it could've been cut out."

Despite the draw, Italian football writer David Amoyal saw positives from the Juventus performance:

Sarri has a different set of principles to the man he replaced at Juventus, Massimiliano Allegri. With that in mind, the transition towards Sarri's methods was always going to take time, and it's not a shock that there have been some issues early in the season for the Italian champions.

There have been plus points too, with Juventus looking lively in their attacking play in particular. If Sarri can find a way of making the Bianconeri a little more secure in defence, the signs are that they will be a major force in the Champions League this term.