"He's suspended on Sunday (against Cesena) so I tried to play him from the start. I saw that his mind wasn't totally on the match, so I preferred to substitute him," Montella told reporters after Fiorentina's shock 2-1 home loss to the Belarus team.
Cuadrado has been the subject of transfer speculation since he had an outstanding World Cup, helping Colombia to reach the quarter-finals. Although Fiorentina had already qualified for the knockout stage before the game, Montella was furious with the performance.
"It was an important match for me, I don't like to lose even when I'm playing against my son," he said. "I take this seriously, I'm ashamed and I apologise to everyone.
“I'm afraid that I was unable to transmit what I wanted from this game. I expected more, because there is a clear difference between these two teams.”
Fiorentina are a modest ninth in Serie A where they have managed only 16 goals in 14 games. Despite Thursday's defeat, they finished top of Europa League Group K.
(Writing by Brian Homewood in Berne; Editing by Ed Osmond)
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