Juventus captain Manuel Locatelli has voiced his frustration over a recent yellow card he received for simulation, describing himself as ‘angry’ and stating that the team requires more ‘nastiness’ and greater clinical efficiency in front of goal to secure a place in next season’s Champions League.
Juventus is currently engaged in a tight race with Roma and Como for a Champions League spot. The Bianconeri hold fourth place with 65 points, with Roma one point behind and Como three points adrift heading into the final three matches of the 2025-26 season.
The gap between Juventus and Roma narrowed following Juventus’s 1-1 draw against Hellas Verona and Roma’s decisive 4-0 victory over Fiorentina. Despite the close proximity in points, Locatelli finds some comfort in the fact that the Champions League qualification is still within Juventus’s control. However, he urged his teammates to adopt a more ruthless approach as the season nears its end.
“I think we lack a bit of competitive nastiness in certain moments,” Locatelli shared with reporters at the launch event of Juve’s Strength of Stories podcast series. “We have to try to score when games are still open. Being clinical in front of goal helps us. The coach told us, we need a pinch of extra nastiness.”
The Bianconeri skipper dismissed the notion that pressure is affecting the players in these crucial final games. “As I’ve always said, it’s a familiar concept in football, we’re used to this sort of pressure. The important thing is that it all still depends on us. We have to play these next few games with maturity. We’re trying, but we lack that wickedness.”
Locatelli acknowledged that Juventus did not perform at their best during the draw with Verona. “As I’ve said, it still depends on us. We can’t be happy with the game we played against Verona.”
He also expressed his displeasure with the referee’s decision to book him for diving during the Verona match. “Very. I got angry. I don’t usually talk about referees, I don’t like that, but he can’t give me a yellow there. I was nervous, which is why I made a mistake, but I don’t dive. You can’t dive with VAR, there’s no point in giving me the yellow card.”