Genoa coach Gilardino refuses to blame injuries for Juventus defeat

Gilardino emphasized the significance of players such as Malinovskyi, Messias, and Ekuban for the team, but stressed the importance of avoiding excuses at this critical juncture.

“It was a good first half performance, the second saw a naïve error from De Winter that rather changed the game, because when you allow these situations against big clubs, it opens up the spaces and you get punished.

“We are fragile defensively at the moment and we know that when we concede, we open up even more. We tried to play between the lines with Fabio Miretti and send Andrea Pinamonti forward, but let’s also not forget we had some teenagers playing today.”

Gilardino also said: “We’ve got to just keep going. This is what we’re facing this season, I knew this was the case and it’s important that everyone understands that. A lot has happened, between injuries and players who have left.

“It is important to spend even more time in training working on the details, that is the only way forward. A player like Messias is essential to get that change of pace and take opponents on, so we don’t have another figure like that who can break forward from midfield.”