The Juve boss admitted the 35-year-old was not happy with his Coppa Italia victory
Juventus head coach Andrea Pirlo has defended his decision to replace Cristiano Ronaldo with Tuesday’s win over Inter, despite the Portuguese star’s unhappy being taken off the field.
Ronaldo scored twice in the first half of the second leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final and hit back after Lautaro Martinez opened the scoring for Inter in the ninth minute.
Juventus would win the match 2-1 at San Siro and take a significant advantage in next week’s return match in Turin.
After the game, Pirlo was questioned about his decision to take out Ronaldo in the 77th minute and said he felt the need to rest the star of his team, who turns 36 on Friday.
“It’s normal that when you go out in a game like this, you want to play to help the team,” said Pirlo. Rai Sport.
“There is no contract clause that says it cannot be suppressed. He knows he’s a fundamental player for us, but to catch his breath, he should always be on top.
“He proved it with his performances after some criticism. He couldn’t have done better than that.
“I said [to him] that he had to rest, we have an important game on Saturday. He has played many games in a row, now and then a little rest is good for him. “
After Inter beat Juventus 2-0 in Serie A two weeks ago, Pirlo was happy to see his side jump back against a tough opponent.
“We were not ourselves against Inter in the competition, that was a mistake, but it was also a valuable lesson and we worked on the mistakes made in that game,” added Pirlo.
“This is only the first round, we haven’t achieved anything yet. What this does prove is that when we are fully focused, it becomes difficult for someone against us. We know our strength.
“It’s not easy to maintain this intensity if you play practically every day. I saw a great response after falling behind. “
Before Juventus takes on Inter in the return match, it will face Roma in Serie A.