Effective playing time in Cagliari vs. Juventus sparks Spalletti’s protest

Juventus coach Luciano Spalletti complained about Cagliari wasting time during the Bianconeri’s 1-0 loss in Sardinia, with the effective playing time in the game barely exceeding 52 minutes.

Juventus coach Spalletti was unhappy with the attitude of Cagliari players in their Serie A encounter at the Unipol Domus on Saturday.

The Bianconeri dominated proceedings and had the best chances against the Rossoblu, but lost their second game under Spalletti due to a Luca Mazzitelli goal in the second half.

During his post-match interview with DAZN and his press conference after the game, Spalletti protested about Cagliari’s time-wasting.

“[Referee] Massa tried to give more minutes of added time, but people started falling to the ground, and it’s something that has to be fixed,” Spalletti said via TMW.

“One has to play football and not waste time on every throw-in. That’s how five or six minutes passed by.

“They don’t want to play with actual playing time, but these things will only continue to grow.

“Massa actually added even more time because of stoppages, but it has to do with resting and slowing the pace of the match, taking whatever breaks you want to regain your composure,” concluded the Juventus coach.

“Ten players were constantly throwing themselves on the ground. Something needs to be done about it. First it’s a cramp, then a contact, then a kick that never even happened.”

As reported by Opta, out of the 98 minutes in the game, the effective playing time was just above 52 minutes.

Juventus’ next league game is against Napoli at the Allianz Stadium in Turin on Sunday, January 25.

Before that game, however, the Bianconeri will host José Mourinho’s Benfica in a Champions League match next Wednesday.