Following the fall of the Italian giants, Juventus against Portuguese side FC Porto in the UEFA Champions League round of 16, club’s manager Andrea Pirlo has expressed his displeasure on the performance of the Old Ladies, saying their confidence was shaky.
The Bianconeri suffered a crucial 2-1 defeat against Sergio Conceicao’s men. Iran’s Mehdi Taremi spurred the Portuguese side into a first-minute lead. Moussa Marega double the lead in the early minutes of the second half, but Federico Chiesa’s only goal for Juve was not enough as they will be focusing on the second leg of the UCL in Turin for redemption.
Cristiano Ronaldo did not have a special outing as it was described by the former Italian midfielder, as regards giving the side motivation to win, but the reverse is the case for Juve.
But Pirlo was frustrated for the underwhelming performance of the Italian side, saying that their poor display was leverage for the host to pounce and utilize, as they have no game plan.
“When you concede a goal after one minute, a strange one at that, it’s natural the players will lose confidence, especially against a side that knows how to clam up in defense,” Andrea Pirlo said at the post-match conference.
“Porto got the game immediately on the track as they wanted. With such a packed fixture list, it’s normal you can’t always maintain absolute focus and the right tempo, but it shouldn’t have happened in the Round of 16 of the Champions League.” He added
The Italian coach made mention of the injury challenges rocking the club, as the club captain Georgio Chiellini was forced out of the pitch due to a calf injury.
“Matthijs De Ligt fortunately just had a cramp. Chiellini has a calf problem and Morata wasn’t in good shape before, then was sore at the end too, so we’ll see.”
“Morata hasn’t been at his best since returning from a bout of flu. He was only playing tonight because we needed him. He felt ill in the locker room afterward, he felt faint and needed a lie-down, so he is not doing well.”
The first goal of the crucial tie from Porto came as a result of some blunders and pressure mounted on the Old Ladies.
“We moved the ball around too slowly and weren’t intelligent enough to realize the dynamics of the game we were going into.”
“The intention was to spread the play, but we didn’t do it enough in the first half, a bit more towards the end. It’s not easy against a team with 11 men behind the ball.
“We had prepared well for this game, it was not the attitude we wanted, but conceding a goal in the opening minute when we handed it to them on a silver platter made everything more difficult.”
The Italian side will host Porto for the second leg of the UCL Round of 16 on March the 9th 2021.
