Nicola frustrated by Cremonese regret against Juventus, but also pleased

Davide Nicola is glad Cremonese left their defeat with Juventus feeling ‘regret’ as it means they put up a fight, including Jamie Vardy’s second goal in three Serie A games.

The Grigiorossi suffered only their second Serie A defeat of the season, conceding the opening goal within 85 seconds of Luciano Spalletti’s Juve debut.

Both goals were effectively set up by Cremonese players, as the attempts to anticipate saw the ball knocked back into the path of Filip Kostic and Andrea Cambiaso to finish off the moves.

Vardy got his second goal in the last three Serie A matches, but it was too little, too late to turn this around.

“The lads got me regretful at the end, because we felt irritated at having wasted the entire first half, but ending against Juventus with regrets is a good thing, especially after such a poor performance with Inter,” Nicola told Sky Sport Italia.

“Perhaps we were lacking something in terms of physicality in the final third, but fundamentally I am pleased with the overall performance. If we had opened it up a bit earlier, it might’ve been different, but these things happen against an opponent of such quality.

“I believe this will help the team to grow and step up a level in future. We had three very tough games this week with limited options, but the lads had the right attitude and it’s one thing to lose big fixtures when keeping your identity, it is another to lose badly without putting up a fight.”

Spalletti pulled some tactical surprises, maintaining the 3-5-2 formation, but notably with Teun Koopmeiners placed in the middle of a three-man defence, with Manuel Locatelli and Khephren Thuram in midfield.

“We had a rough idea how Juventus would play, perhaps changing one or two players, as we knew Kenan Yildiz and Kelly were out. We certainly didn’t expect Thuram to be ready to start, but Locatelli protecting the defence was something we had already evaluated, as he had that position in a Coppa Italia game,” continued Nicola.

“We try to modify the positioning of our three midfielders depending on the opposition, where we can find the spaces and create balance. Fortunately, all three of our midfielders are versatile and can play a few different roles.

“I am fundamentally glad that Cremonese showed our solidity again this evening and were very difficult to beat.”

Their only other defeat of the season was 4-1 to Inter at San Siro on October 4, having beaten Milan, Sassuolo and Genoa.