Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri has defended the club's summer signings.

While Juve continue to impress, summer additions Tiago Mendes and Sergio Almiron haven't settled and could be headed for the exit.

"It's not easy to go out and sign champions in June as we had to," Ranieri explained. "We have built a squad, but sometimes all the pieces don't gel. I don't think that we made any mistakes.

"During pre-season I became aware that we were missing a defensive midfielder, that's why we kept hold of Antonio Nocerino and let Claudio Marchisio go."