Serie A: Juventus title hopes fade after Cagliari shock win

CAGLIARI: The all-time record holder, Juventus ' title ambitions suffered a massive setback with a 1-0 loss to Cagliari here at Unipol Domus on Saturday after failing to translate their domination in possession into goals.

Juventus are ranked fourth with 39 points, a difference of ten to the leaders Inter Milan, who beat Udinese 1-0 on Saturday.

The win brought Cagliari eight points above relegation, and the club has 22 points that make it rank 15th. With 25 minutes remaining, the objective of the goal by Lucas Mazzitelli was already the conclusion of the 6 matches that Juventus had won in the league since Cagliari was unable to have a single shot attempt in the first half.

The visitors dominated the early stages, although they did not create many threats before Cagliari goalkeeper Elia Caprile saved the shot of Fabio Miretti, who was just inside the box, and there was a goalless first half.

Prior to Gianluca Gaetano's delivering a free kick to the box, Juventus had chances.

Mazzitelli took the ball, made a side-footed volley, and passed Perin on the turn. Caprile's palm-read scorching makes by Juventus and desperately seeking to equalise, and Yildiz's late drive was cleared off the post.

Juventus manager Luciano Spalletti acknowledged Cagliari’s opportunistic win while reflecting on his team’s missed chances.

"You tip your hat to your opponents, who brought home a victory that perhaps they didn't deserve, but sniffed out the opportunity and took it," Juventus manager Luciano Spalletti said.

"Maybe next time we can learn from that and sniff out our chance too. For certain, losing isn't nice, but we wouldn't have been happy with a draw either."