BEVERLY HILLS, April 02, (THEWILL) – Andrea Pirlo, manager of Serie A defending champions, Juventus, made a disciplinary decision to leave Weston McKennie, Paulo Dybala and Arthur Melo out of the squad to face Torino in Serie A on Saturday.
He did this because his players breached COVID-19 protocols on Wednesday.
The trio were fined by the club after a party hosted by USA midfielder McKennie in the hills above Turin, which flouted health and safety regulations. Among the 10 guests at the dinner party were his teammates Dybala and Arthur, in an area where a nationwide curfew remains in place from 10pm to 5am.
Pirlo considered the ban insufficient penalty and took further action by omitting the trio for Saturday’s Turin derby. He addressed the issue at a pre-match conference by saying: “The three players involved are not called up for tomorrow’s game and will return to work over time, we’ll see when.
“I made the decision and the club did the rest. For the selection part, I decided. It was not the right time to do it (have a party), we are examples, and it is right that we behave like this.”
Juventus’ chances of securing a 10th successive Scudetto this season is not likely as they sit 10 points behind leaders Inter Milan in third in the Serie A table. Rumours of the club parting ways with their club legend in his debut senior managerial position have not abated even though his chances of staying put are high.
In the face of these challenges and stories, the Italian manager has defiantly braved the odds and continues to approach his job with a positive mindset.
He said:!”The approach is to win all the games, and then you see what happens both in front and behind.
“The goal is to win the one tomorrow and then think about the next one, our goal is to win all the games. We are still in this season, there is much to play for.”
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
