Cyril Thereau’s late strike shocked the home crowd and consigned Juve to their first home defeat in the opening game of a Serie A season in 87 years.
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He added: “It’s normal that Juventus are in a transitional phase after losing some key players who had been here for a long time”.
“Everyone needs patience, as it is a transitional year, but that doesn’t mean we’ve lost before we begin”.
Unsurprisingly, it was the Serie A champions that troubled first.
Juventus won the domestic double of the Italian league and cup last season, and also got to the Champions League final.
The coach did so with confidence, knowing that-despite the exits of Andrea Pirlo, Arturo Vidal and Carlos Tevez-the Bianconeri had comfortably dispatched Lazio in the Supercoppa Italiana two weeks ago. Alvaro Morata has a calf problem, Khedira is out with a thigh injury and Claudio Marchisio is expected to be unavailable for three weeks with a similar issue.
Udinese had to ride their luck at times, with Orestis Karnezis’ goal leading a charmed life as Mario Mandzukic and Roberto Pereyra went closest.
Promising young talent Kingsley Coman was at the heart of many of Juve’s attacks, but it was Udinese which broke the deadlock in the 78th minute with its first shot on target.
“In the first half especially he had some good moves, but we must not forget he needs time to grow like the other players who arrived this summer”. Panagiotis Kone put in a tantalizing cross from the right flank and Thereau escaped his marker to volley in low at the far post.
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Milan defender Rodrigo Ely was sent off after 37 minutes for a second bookable offence and Marcos Alonso sent the resulting free kick past Diego Lopez from 30 yards.
