Cristiano Ronaldo strikes twice to give Juventus an edge over Inter in Coppa Italia

Juventus emerged victorious in the first leg of their Coppa Italia clash against Serie A rivals Inter Milan, with Cristiano Ronaldo bagging a brace. 

Nothing is Done Yet

After the match, Juventus manager Andrea Pirlo was keen to stress that nothing was guaranteed yet. He also said that a previous defeat of his side by Inter in the league helped his side sort out some pressing issues and earn revenge in the replay. 

Since the 2-0 defeat at San Siro, Italian champions Juventus have won five consecutive games, including this comeback victory. 

Cristiano Ronaldo hit two goals after Inter forward Lautaro Martinez scored the opener to help Juventus put a foot in the final ahead of the second leg of this clash in Turin. 

The Right Attitude

Commenting after the match, Pirlo told Rai Sport: "We weren’t in that game, but it served as a lesson for us. From there we regrouped, worked on the errors and more victories arrived. But tonight was the first round, there’s another game to come, and it’s played over 180 minutes. Nothing is done yet.

"The guys were great, they faced inter with the right attitude from the first minute. We went behind, but we continued to play. There was a great reaction from the team.”

Ronaldo was not too impressed with his manager's decision to substitute him in the 76th minute but Pirlo has clarified that the move was in order to preserve the Portuguese captain for a grueling run of fixtures. “I told him that he had to come off because we have an important game on Saturday [against Roma in Serie A], so it’s right to let him catch his breath,” Pirlo said. “He’s playing many games consecutively, so now and then a bit of rest does some good.”

Meanwhile, Inter manager Antonio Conte has lamented his team's lack of cutting edge and the defensive mix-ups that handed the initiative in this tie to Juventus, stating that they were the only blemish on an otherwise great performance.