Juventus manager Igor Tudor had many topics to tackle after the dramatic 1-1 draw against Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico.
The Bianconeri were only two minutes away from escaping with three invaluable points in the race for fourth place, thanks to Randal Kolo Muani’s opener at the start of the second period. However, Matias Vecino equalised the scoring in the 96th minute to keep the two sides level on points.
The turning point of the match was Pierre Kalulu’s red card. The Juventus defender was expelled following a VAR review for violent conduct. He was spotted hitting Taty Castellanos in the face.
Igor Tudor irritated with naive Pierre Kalulu
Tudor was disappointed with the outcome, rueing Kalulu’s dismissal which occurred only a couple of weeks after Kenan Yildiz’s almost similar episode.
“It was a great game, I am sorry that we dropped two points right at the end, but we keep going. There are two matches to play, the lads gave their all in the circumstances with players missing, so I congratulated them in the dressing room and we go forward with confidence,” said Tudor in his post-match interview with DAZN via Football Italia.
“It’s disappointing, as it’s two games now we have been reduced to 10 men for long periods, which at this stage of the season is incredible. I don’t know how much contact he actually made, but it was a naïve thing to do. You shouldn’t do that, Kalulu is a good guy, we accept this red card.
“He was disappointed, but surprised too, he’s a good guy who cares so much. We’ll see what happens, we hope it’ll be just a one-match ban.”
Tudor apologised for Adzic & Conceicao
The Juventus manager was naturally asked about his curious decision to replace Francisco Conceicao and Vasilije Adzic in the final stages of the contest for Dusan Vlahovic and Federico Gatti.
The Portuguese winger was introduced at half-time, while the Montenegrin teenager had only been on the pitch for nine minutes/
Tudor admitted it was an odd choice, but explained why he would do it all over again.
“Gatti was coming off a fracture, he never trained with the rest of the team, he was still limping and we brought him along thinking if we really needed it, he could play five minutes.
“I took off the two lads who came on, I immediately apologised to them in the dressing room. It rarely happens and I didn’t like doing it, but I had to because we needed experience and height in those final minutes to help the team. It was an odd choice I admit, but I would do it again.”
