Its reality that there 10 teams in Europe that are better than Juventus, asserts Massimiliano Allegri
In light of Juventus’ elimination from the Champions League, Massimiliano Allegri has defended his side but believes that right now, there are 10 teams in Europe better than the Old Lady. The Serie A giants lost 4-1 on aggregate to Villarreal after collapsing to a 3-0 loss in the second leg.
After a defensively prominent but lacklustre first-leg against Villarreal, both Juventus and the La Liga side walked into the second leg of their Champions League Round of 16 tie with a 1-1 draw separating them. However, things changed in the second leg as Unai Emery’s side put up a very impressive first half fight although Juventus went close on a few attempts, even hitting the crossbar on one occasion. But it simply wasn’t meant to be for Massimiliano Allegri’s side as Villarreal found the breakthrough late in the second half.
A penalty for Gerard Moreno handed the Yellow Submarines the lead before goals from Pau Torres and another penalty for Arnaut Danjuma, within the space of fourteen minutes, handed Villarreal the game. It saw Emery’s side progress through as 4-1 winners on aggregate while Juventus crashed out but despite that Massimiliano Allegri defended his side. The Italian believed that his team played well over “75 minutes” but also added that their reality, right now, is the fact that there are better teams in Europe.
"I think the team played well for over 75 minutes. In the second half, Villarreal decided to just defend in block but they had one chance and they took it. Football is like that - one episode can change everything," Allegri said, reported Goal.
"We had good chances in the first half, fewer in the second because Villarreal started defending with 11 men, clearly trying to bring the game to extra time. Than that goal changed everything. There are 10 teams in Europe that are on a better level than Juventus. It’s not a shame, it’s the reality. It’s not fair to say that this is a failure”.