Massimiliano Allegri accepts the only way Juventus can turn around their season is to approach big matches with less fear after going down 2-0 to Milan on Saturday.
Juve's recent upturn in results, in which they had picked up their first back-to-back wins of the season against Bologna and Maccabi Haifa, came to a halt at San Siro.
Fikayo Tomori's opener late in the first half was added to early in the second by Brahim Diaz, who ran half the length of the pitch before firing past Wojciech Szczesny.
Eighth-place Juve are at risk of dropping into the bottom half on Sunday depending on results elsewhere, having collected just 13 points from their opening nine matches.
And Allegri, who has come under fire for his tactics this season, accepts his side have taken a step backwards with their performance against his old club Milan.
"After tonight's game, there is little for me to say," he told DAZN. "We are in a moment where we seemed to be out of the negative period with these two victories.
"But we fell for it again. It's a pity, as we did well for the first 20-25 minutes, then got deeper and deeper without even being forced into it.
"We made a lot of misplaced passes and inevitably you pay for that."
The defeat was Allegri's first against a Stefano Pioli-coached side in the 17th encounter between the pair in the Italian top flight.
It leaves Juve winless in their opening four away league matches for just the second time in their past 40 campaigns, the other instance coming in the 1993-94 season.
Asked if his side are struggling physically this season, as vice-president Pavel Nedved suggested ahead of the game, Allegri said: "I think it's psychological, too.
"It's not easy at the moment. We dropped a lot of points against the lower-mid table teams, then in these big clashes we needed more confidence."
Juve were not happy Tomori's goal was allowed to stand due to what they felt was a foul from Theo Hernandez on Juan Cuadrado in the build-up to the corner he scored from.
Diaz's second was also preventable, with the Milan forward collecting a stray Dusan Vlahovic pass, knocking the ball past a couple of players and charging through on goal.
Milan had earlier twice hit the post through Rafael Leao with the scoreline level, and finished the game with an expected goals (xG) return of 2.35, compared to Juve's 0.75.
That suggests a huge gulf in quality on the day, and Allegri has demanded an improvement in Tuesday's Champions League tie with Maccabi Haifa.
"It's unfortunate we conceded from our own mistakes on both goals," Allegri said. "We need to stay calm, roll our sleeves up and go to Haifa with the mental strength to win.
"It is strange because at a certain point we just stopped playing and started to back down. After Leao hit the post, we started going backwards.
"There are also some passes that are just impossible to get wrong. It's not as if two good games can resolve all the problems.
"It was five against three on some of our attacks; we need to score goals in those situations. We've got to be more determined in the challenges and shake off our fear.
"If we don't do that we won't have the balance to go far this season. If we shake off the fear, we can turn things around.
"When you pass the ball backwards, the other side will push forward and don’t even need to press you that hard. We need to work on that and improve."
Ancelotti urges Kroos to reverse retirement decision after Champions League glory
Toni Kroos is set to leave Real Madrid as a six-time Champions League winner but Carlo Ancelotti wants the Los Blancos midfielder to reverse his retirement decision.
The Germany midfielder appears to have played the final club game of his career, signing off with European glory after a 2-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund in Saturday's final.
Kroos delivered a perfect corner-kick assist for Dani Carvajal's 74th-minute opener at Wembley Stadium before Vinicius Junior sealed Madrid's 15th crown in UEFA's top club competition.
The 34-year-old Kroos will head to Euro 2024 with Germany this month before calling time on his glittering career, though Ancelotti hopes he will change his mind.
"I'm really grateful to Kroos," Ancelotti said. "He finished at the very top, there is no way to finish higher than this.
"He had the boldness to finish it [his career] and he is a legend at this club.
"All the fans are grateful to him for his attitude, his professionalism. I've told him we are waiting for him to change his mind – we are waiting for you."
It was the sixth winning campaign for Madrid quadruple Kroos, Luka Modric, Dani Carvajal and Nacho in the Champions League.
Only Paco Gento (six) has won the European Cup/Champions League as many times among players in history.
This success will be further boosted by the expected arrival of Kylian Mbappe, who is reportedly set to join Madrid after announcing his intentions to leave Paris Saint-Germain.
Ancelotti says Los Blancos will look to new arrivals, as well as the current crop of Madrid stars, to combat Kroos' retirement.
"We have lost an important player, but we have players who can replace him and we will adapt and play a slightly different way," Ancelotti said.
"We have fantastic players and the resources to remain competitive."
Kroos' Germany face Ukraine and Greece in warm-up fixtures before opening their Euro 2024 campaign against Scotland on June 14.
Swiatek searching for French Open adaptation despite quarter-final progression
Iga Swiatek continues to dominate at the French Open, but the world number one is still learning to adapt to testing Roland-Garros conditions.
The four-time major winner coasted into the quarter-finals in Paris, hammering Anastasia Potapova 6-0 6-0 on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Swiatek is only the third player in the Open Era to claim 6-0 6-0 victories at Roland-Garros in consecutive years, after Gabriela Sabatini (1992-93) and Mary Pierce (1993-94)
The triumph against world number 41 Potapova lasted just over 40 minutes, with Swiatek completely "in the zone" but perplexed by challenging conditions in the French capital.
"It felt the same but I was really focused and in the zone," she said on court. "I wasn't looking at the score so I continued working on my game.
"It was pretty weird, because of the fact we played really early, we felt the temperature would be similar.
"It doesn't feel like summer in Europe. We'll see what the weather is going to be like. The forecast is not precise. We'll see and we're good at adjusting."
Swiatek remains on course for her third consecutive French Open title and fourth in five years.
She won 48 of 58 points on Sunday, and is the first woman to record victory in 18 straight matches at a major since Serena Williams won the 2014 US Open.
After taking the titles in Madrid and Rome, Swiatek also has 16 consecutive wins overall – yet she is still seeking improvements.
"I'll use my coach's experience," she added. "He's more confident than me with my strings.
"The wind bounces, I have got used to it. I have a person who was a sailor in my team so we're good with that."
Swiatek hammers Potapova to breeze into French Open quarter-finals
Iga Swiatek cruised into the French Open quarter-finals after thrashing Anastasia Potapova in a straight-sets victory on Sunday.
The world number one survived a third-round scare in a three-set thriller with Naomi Osaka, but had little trouble in making the last eight at Roland-Garros.
Swiatek did not drop a game en route to her fourth-round demolition of world number 41 Potapova on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
An expectant Paris crowd was treated to one-way traffic as Swiatek claimed the first set in 20 minutes, condemning Potapova to the dreaded bagel.
Further pain followed for Potapova as Swiatek wrapped up a 6-0 6-0 victory in just 41 minutes after a clay-court hammering.
Swiatek's victory sets up a quarter-final meeting with either Olga Danilovic or Marketa Vondrousova, the latter the fifth seed in the French capital.
Data Debrief: Swiatek on fire
Swiatek is now only the third player in the Open Era to claim 6-0 6-0 victories at Roland-Garros in consecutive years, after Gabriela Sabatini (1992-93) and Mary Pierce (1993-94).
The Pole has also claimed 13.6 per cent of her total sets played on clay at WTA level by a score of 6-0. Among players with 10+ 6-0 sets on the surface since 2000, that is the highest rate of any player in completed matches.
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