Pirlo wants Juventus to be less dependent on Ronaldo

Portuguese forward, who was rested for Saturday's match, has missed two other Serie A games this season

MILAN:

Juventus need to be less dependent on Cristiano Ronaldo, coach Andrea Pirlo said on Saturday after they again failed to win a league game without their talismanic 35-year-old.

"It does not seem to me that the other teams where Ronaldo played were not also dependent on him," said Pirlo following the 1-1 draw away to Benevento.

"He is a catalyst of attacking moves, of goals and it is natural that when a player is as strong as he is, the team's development is based on him.

"But sometimes, it happens that he is not there and we have to improve in these matches."

Ronaldo, who was rested for Saturday's match, has missed two other Serie A games this season and they also ended 1-1, away to Crotone -- another promoted side -- and Verona.

Pirlo was frustrated that his team conceded an equaliser in first-half stoppage time, and that they allowed Benevento to knock them out of their stride in the second half.

"This is not the first goal we have conceded at the end of a half," he said. "We have to improve and understand that the games are not all the same and that the moments are not all the same, and have to be dealt with differently.

"When games get chaotic and messy, we have to play clean, good football and take control of the match. Otherwise we struggle, as we did today."

Benevento coach Filippo Inzaghi, on the other hand, was delighted as his team picked up a first-ever Serie A point against Juventus at the third attempt.

"If we had made better use of a few counter-attacks, we could even have won it," he said. "To get a result with Juve, everything has to go well for you, but the team did really well."