Highlights:
- Juventus gets knocked out of UEFA Champions League after the aggregate score reached 4-4 against Porto
- On Wednesday, Juventus won the match 3-2 against Porto in the second leg of round of 16
- Juventus’ Head Coach Andrea Pirlo says he is not scared of a possible sack
The Italian giants Juventus were left shocked as the Portuguese ended their Champions League hopes with the extra-time freekick proving to be the difference.
Andrea Pirlo, the coach of Juventus, said he is not fearing the sack despite watching his side crash out of the Champions League against a 10-man Porto on Wednesday.
As the last-166 ties at 3-3 on aggregate in the extra-time, the free kick from Sergio Oliveira from long range went under a crumbling Juve wall, as Wojciech Szczesny was only able to palm the low drive into the back of the net.
The goal meant that the late header from Adrien Rabiot was merely a consolation, as the Portuguese side stunned Juventus to reach the quarter-finals on away goals after a 4-4 aggregate result after 2 legs.
Andrea Pirlo said, “I don’t know why (Maurizio) Sarri was removed,” while speaking with Sky Italia after the game.
He added, “I am the coach of Juventus, I was brought in for a more ample approach, a project that was always meant to develop over several years, so I am not concerned (about being sacked).
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“I am not happy to be working with a full week, as I’d have preferred to stay in the Champions League.
“Now that we’re in this situation, we can work on various aspects in training, which we haven’t had time to do so far this season, and try to improve on those.”
Talking about the freekick from Oliveira, Pirlo added, “We choose the players to go in the wall. It had never happened before that they’d turn around, maybe they felt it was so far out that they didn’t sense the danger.
“It was a mistake, it usually doesn’t happen, the players didn’t feel it was a dangerous situation and conceded a goal.”
Pirlo is in the first season as the coach for Juve after his predecessor Maurizio Sarri was sacked after just a single year in charge of the Italian giant.
Despite winning the Serie A, Sarri was sacked from the position of Juve manager after his side crashed out of the UEFA Champions League against Lyon in the last 16.
Pirlo might struggle to even replicate the success produced by Sarri, with Juventus currently in third place in Serie A, 10 points behind leaders Inter who enjoy a game advantage over Juventus.