Soccer: Juve admit facing uphill Euro battle after Real loss
(ANSA) – Rome, October 24 – Juventus boss Antonio Conte has admitted his side face an uphill battle to qualify for the knockout stage of the Champions League after suffering a 2-1 defeat at Real Madrid on Wednesday.
The Serie A champions gave a spirited display, with forward Fernando Llorente cancelling out Cristiano Ronaldo’s early opener only for the Portuguese star to restore Real’s lead with a penalty.
Their chances of equalising again were limited after Giorgio Chiellini was harshly sent off for a second yellow card early in the second half when the Italy forward’s hand brushed against Ronaldo’s cheek.
The Turin giants are third in Champions League group B with two points from three matches, eight behind leaders Real and two behind Istanbul side Galatasaray, after drawing their opening games to the Turks and to Copenhagen. “Unfortunately we lost a game that was decided by individual incidents, but I’m pleased because we showed we’re perfectly capable of holding our own on a stage like this, against a team that will be one of the main contenders to win the Champions League come May,” Conte said.
“It’s uphill for us now of course, but if we play like we did tonight I’m sure we can make up the lost ground and go through,” added that coach.
Juventus were also annoyed that they did not get a penalty after Chilean midfielder Arturo Vidal went down in the area.
The Italian sport’s press agreed that the referee had done no favours to the Turin team, nicknamed the ‘Old Lady’ of Italian soccer. Indeed, the front-page headline of Thursday’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport read: “Old Lady Pickpocketed”. It was a better week in the Champions League for Italy’s two other contenders. Napoli share the top spot in Group H with Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund – all three have six points from three games – after beating Olympique Marseille 2-1 away on Tuesday.
Seven-time European champions AC Milan are second in Group H after holding Barcelona to a 1-1 draw at the San Siro. They have five points, two fewer than the Catalans and two more than third-placed Celtic.