Juventus coach Maurizio Sarri defended his players after their 2-0 defeat to Cagliari.

Juve had been crowned champions on Sunday, but slipped to a loss on Wednesday night as Luca Gagliano and Giovanni Simeone struck for Cagliari.

“The problem is that that we are the only team in Europe who will have to play five times in 12 days," Sarri told DAZN.

“We'll see how we are tomorrow and whether we ought to field the Under-23 team in its entirety at the weekend, so that everyone can get a bit of rest.

“In terms of motivation and determination, this was an atypical match and cannot be considered the same way as the rest of the season. Our passing is good, but the pace at which the ball circulates is the issue. Passing it slowly, and I mean the ball rather than legs, just makes things easy for the opposition.

“We had nine players left at home with injuries today, so obviously I've got some doubts ahead of Lyon. We'll have to see who recovers."