The performance of Juventus during Wednesday's Betfair Cup match against Valletta at the National Stadium received negative reviews in the Italian media yesterday.
The Serie A giants were surprisingly beaten by the Citizens 4-3 in a penalty shoot-out after a 1-1 draw at the end of normal time.
La Gazzetta dello Sport website gave prominence to last Wednesday's friendly at the National Stadium.
Under the heading "Juventus opaca a Malta (Juventus opaque in Malta)" the Italian paper described Juventus's performance as below-par, adding that "they have started the 2008 on a very low note".
La Gazzetta said Juventus suffered a physical decline in the final part of the match.
"The last 10 minutes were the most difficult for Juventus," the paper said, "as the Valletta players became more aggressive but failed to finalise their chances."
Il Corriere dello Sport praised the stiff challenge Valletta gave Juve on Wednesday.
The report, titled "Juve deludente, soltanto 1-1 a Malta" (Disappointing Juve, only a 1-1 draw in Malta) said Juventus failed to see off the stiff challenge of Valletta and were beaten in a penalty shoot-out.
The paper identified a few positives for Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri, most notably "the condition of most of the players in the squad as most of them managed to play at least 45 minutes, while Marchionni and Grygera were on the field for the whole 90 minutes."
Another Italian sports paper, Controcampo, said that there was no joy for Juventus in their opening match of 2008. Journalist Tiziana Sapienza wrote: "This match may have been a friendly but if you are Juventus, you cannot afford to suffer such embarrassment."
The newspaper also had words of praise for the battling spirit shown by the Valletta players.
"The home team did their utmost to come out of the game with their heads held high," the report said. "They battled for every ball and managed to close all avenues for a Juventus team who were looking to rediscover their best form just before their Serie A campaign resumes on Saturday at Catania."
Turin-based newspaper TuttoSport branded Juventus' approach to the match as "too friendly".
In the match report, written by Elvira Erbi, the paper sought to play down the disappointment of Juventus' defeat by highlighting the Bianconeri's tendency to underperform in warm-up matches, quoting coach Claudio Ranieri as saying: "We never go beyond a draw... but at least the physical condition is there."
TuttoSport claimed that the approach of the Valletta players was anything but complimentary with Alessandro Del Piero "being continuosly kicked by his opponents" while Alessandro Birindelli and Sergio Almiron were also "caught in skirmishes with aggressive opponents".
It was only in the final two sentences of the report that the author conceded that Juventus had disappointed their fans by "failing to deliver".