Marotta rues Juventus' lack of 'clinical striker' against Inter

The general manager was disappointed with the Bianconeri's unbeaten run coming to an end at 49 games, and he said that with an extra forward things may have been different.

Juventus general manager Giuseppe Marotta has hinted that the club is currently lacking a clinical finisher in attack after it succumbed to its first Serie A defeat in 18 months against Inter Milan on Saturday.

The Bianconeri scored inside 19 seconds thanks to Arturo Vidal's controversial opener, but Andrea Stramaccioni's men hit back in the second half thanks to a double from Diego Milito and Rodrigo Palacio's late strike to end the match in the visitors' favor.

Marotta entertained the possibility that the result might have been different had the hosts possessed a better goal threat in their ranks, but insisted that the side was not at their best in general.

"Was our attack light? Yes, maybe with a more clinical striker we might've had a different result," the 57-year-old told Tuttosport. "We knew that [Inter] are among the contenders for the Scudetto, but we were not at our best. We were not able to maintain our intensity and we missed out on too many counterattacks.

Marotta admitted that Juve's participation in the Champions League is proving to be an added burden on the club's fortunes this season. Juventus resumes its European campaign against Nordsjaelland with a mid-week fixture.

"Maybe we're paying - more than others - a price for the high number of matches played this season," Marotta added./goal.com