Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri has accepted the defeat against Valletta on Wednesday night.

After a 1-1 draw over 90 minutes, the local Premier League leaders claimed the Betfair Cup on a penalty shoot-out which they won

4-3.

It was a historic win for the Citizens and Maltese football in general as it was reported widely in Italian newspapers, radios and main TV channels, including Rai and Mediaset.

Ranieri said after the match that they did not wish to give the Valletta fans this joy. “But I accept defeat," he said.

A clearly disappointed coach, Ranieri went on to say that they had made several errors, but now they had to turn their eyes on the Serie A clash against Catania (tomorrow). “It was a good training session for us and what was more important was the fact that no one was injured. We were at fault in the goal scored by Valletta’s Monesterolo. Also, we failed to convert the chances we created early in the second half," he said.

La Gazzetta dello Sport was one of the newspapers which commented on the match. It said Juventus were unimpressive and showed deficiencies especially near the end, when the team appeared tired. It was not surprised that they were beaten in the penalty shoot-out.

Il Corriere dello Sport also said Juventus were a great disappointment to the large number of fans who went to Ta' Qali to watch them in action. It said Juventus could not go beyond a 1-1 draw with local side Valletta. It described the Juventus side as a flop.

The website Channel 4 Football Italia added: “Juventus ran out of steam and lost 5-4 on penalties after a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Valletta. It was a surprise reverse for a side in buoyant mood during the winter break and which is occupying third place in the Serie A standings," it said.