Juventus have already reached some new lows this season, but this defeat with Porto should take the cake as the worst of all. The Bianconeri left the Champions League in this same phase for Lyon, and for long periods today it seemed that the team from this season was trying to imitate that, but with even more embarrassment.
Speaking after the game, coach Andrea Pirlo was frustrated by the poor performance of his team, which gave home owners the advantage of just a minute in a physical battle for which they seemed to have no game plan.
“When you concede a goal after a minute, which is strange in this one, it is natural for players to lose confidence, especially against a team that knows how to stop defense.
“Porto immediately put the game on the track they wanted. With such a crowded list of games, it is normal that you may not always be able to maintain absolute focus and the right pace, but that should not have happened in the Champions League round of 16. “
Club captain Giorgio Chiellini had to leave the game in the first half after another calf problem, and Alvaro Morata had more problems after the final whistle.
“Fortunately, Matthijs De Ligt had cramps. Chiellini has a calf problem and Morata was not in good shape before, then he was also sore at the end, so we’ll see. Morata has not been at his best since returning from a flu attack. He was only playing tonight because we needed him.
“He felt bad in the locker room afterwards, he felt dizzy and needed to lie down, so he is not well.”
The opening goal came from pressure from Porto over Juve, who tried to put the ball in the back, and remained so for most of the game and was close to more than once attacking due to repeated mistakes.
“We moved the ball very slowly and we were not smart enough to understand the dynamics of the game in which we were going.
“The intention was to spread the game, but we didn’t do it enough in the first half, a little more in the end. It is 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 first minute when we handed it to them on a silver platter made it all the more difficult.”