After suffering a 2-0 first leg defeat to Atletico Madrid, Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri was gracious towards his Champions League Round of 16 opponents and acknowledged the Bianconeri were poor in the second half.
Goals from Jose Gimenez then Diego Godin gives the Spanish side a commanding advantage over the Bianconeri going into the match in Turin.
“You have to look at who you are playing against,” Allegri told the press.
“Atletico have been making teams play badly for eight years.
“To play against Atletico you have to be patient and hit them when you have the chance. Atletico are different from all other teams.
“When you play against Atletico, you don’t get any big chances. In football, you never know what can happen. They make you play badly and make the game slower.
“They are very strong, so in Turin we will have to play a faster, more precise match.”
When quizzed on the manner of the defeat, Allegri insisted it wasn’t about the intensity of the players, but more the accuracy of their game.
“The team played well,” Allegri went on. “The game was difficult, and they gave us very little.
“In the second half we focussed more on the circulation of the ball, but we have to put aside the defeat and prepare for Serie A and the return leg.
“It wasn’t about intensity it was about accuracy. They can be defending at one point, then launching balls forward at another. We were poor in the second half. We fell asleep.”
On his return to Madrid, Ronaldo was the subject of taunts from a section of the Atleti fans, as he struggled to make his mark on the match.
“Ronaldo played well,” Allegri insisted.
“He is a player who is used to these kinds of games. He didn’t disappoint tonight.
“We made a mistake as a team, and it will serve as a lesson for the second leg.”
Source: forzaitalianfootball.com