Following their 4-3 defeat to Benfica and subsequent Champions League elimination, Juventus manager Max Allegri insisted missteps in previous are what cost his team progression.
The Bianconeri’s loss to the Portuguese giants officially cost them a chance at advancing to the knockout round as they currently sit in third with 3 points in Group H.
“After we made it 1-1 the match could have gone differently, but then we conceded a penalty that we shouldn’t have given away,” Allegri said at full-time.
“Now, we have to recover physical and above all mental energy in order to finish in the best possible way before the break. We have to take what happened to transform anger into positive energy.”
He added, “The elimination didn’t happen tonight, although here we should have been more involved in the game, but after the second set back everything became more difficult.”
“At the beginning Benfica played very fast football, then in the second half we went out and showed what we were capable of, but by then we were already down in the match.”
“Now, we have to get over the elimination which hurts, and then think about the championship and then next Wednesday we have to ensure qualification to the Europa League.”
Finally, “We would have liked to be playing a different kind of match next Wednesday.”
“The youngsters who played tonight are beginning to gain experience, they have enthusiasm and no fear, this is good for us.”
