Cristiano Ronaldo stayed at home as Juventus battled to a 1-1 stalemate at lowly Lecce, but the defending champions still stay top in Serie A as nearest rivals Inter Milan drew 2-2 with Parma.
Both goals in Lecce came from penalties with Paulo Dybala's strike from the spot after 50 minutes cancelled out by Marco Mancosu's six minutes later as the promoted southerners grabbed their first point at home this season on Saturday.
Unbeaten Juventus have 23 points from nine games, one more than Antonio Conte's Inter, who let the champions off the hook to stay second. Ronaldo, 34, did not make the trip to the heel of Italy after Tuesday's 2-1 Champions League win over Lokomotiv Moscow, and ahead of two Serie A matches in four days next week, and a reverse fixture against the Russians on November 6.
"Ronaldo was tired both physically and mentally, so it would not have helped to make this journey," said Juventus coach Maurizio Sarri.
"When a player expresses his fatigue, it's only right to give him a rest.
"Even without him we created ten chances on goal, but weren't able to finish them off. We let ourselves be drawn into a dirty game."
- Conte worried -
=================
"I didn't like the way we played after taking the lead -- we sat back too much."
"We're going through a period where we're unable to make changes and there's therefore an increased risk of injuries."
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content