The game between last season’s Serie A champions and Coppa Italia winners at the King Saud University Stadium in Saudi Arabia ended in a 3-1 victory for Lazio.
Luis Alberto opened the scoring for the Coppa Italia holders after six minutes but Dybala equalised on the stroke of half time before second half goals from Senad Lulic and Danilo Cataldi sealed victory for Simone Inzaghi’s side.
Lazio, who are third in the Serie A standings, also inflicted on Juventus their first defeat of the season in all competitions a fortnight ago.
Just like in recent games against Udinese and Sampdoria, Sarri opted to field his prolific attacking trio from the start but withdrew Higuain for Aaron Ramsey in the second half following a disjointed display.
Nonetheless, the former Chelsea manager refused to blame his attackers for the Old Lady’s loss.
"We arrived at this game short of energy, physically and mentally," Sarri told a news conference. "This happens. Meanwhile, Lazio are experiencing a moment of incredible form.
"We are sorry we lost a title, but we still have many competitions to play for in the next five months. There is anger, but crying over it does not solve the problems.
"We did not lose because of the front three, since we conceded the [second and third] goals after I added a midfielder."
