Juventus had more control over the ball. As far as the goal scoring chances are concerned, both the rival team and us had them. The Turiners were luckier. Unfortunately, we didn’t manage to seize the opportunities. Things could’ve gone better for us today, but it was what it was.

Why was Kuzyayev on the bench? Why was Lovren among the three defenders? Why was Dzyuba a striker?

We have our three defenders. Barrios played when the others were injured. Plus, today we prepared to defend against a lot of long balls, so we needed two central defenders who are good at that, that’s why they were more apt. 

As for Kuzyzyev, we had Claudinho and Malcom as attackers, Barrios and Wendel in the middle, with Daler as a substitute, we thought he’d enhance our play. He’s been playing a lot lately and it’s better to lighten the load every now and then.

Dzyuba has been scoring lately. Sardar’s been out as he was injured, then came on as a substitute and got sent off. He didn’t train as much, yet played for his international team. That’s why Artem started and Sardar replaced him. We thought that Juventus’ defenders would get a bit tired by then, so we put Azmoun out in the second half.

Lovren must be the most criticised player at the moment. What do you think about his form? Should we expect him in the first eleven at the match against Spartak?

I can’t say Lovren performed poorly. I’ll rewatch the conceded goal, some Juventus chances, and then we’ll see who to look at. As for their goal, all three defenders hesitated at that moment. We lost their player and we should have passed the ball in time.

What injuries did Claudinho and Malcom suffer? Will they be able to play against Spartak?

Claudinho is presumably bruised, Malcom may have a more difficult situation. He is to be examined tomorrow, so we’ll see. 

Why did Karavayev start today? What about Sutormin? Why wasn’t Azmoun there from the first minute?  

Well, I already commented on Azmoun. He was out in previous games. And again, it was difficult to say which way the game would go or how well would Juventus play. As for Sutormin, we have two right backs, Aleksei played a lot in the previous matches and played a lot for the national team, plus. Karavayev was more fresh.