Del Piero reacts to Galatasaray 5-2 Juventus hammering: ‘That’s the reality’
Juventus legend Alessandro Del Piero has had his say on the 5-2 hammering by Galatasaray in the Champions League play-off round on Tuesday evening, and has claimed that it might not be ‘the worst of evils for this side to play one game a week’ if they are to be knocked out of the competition next week.
Juventus’s chances of qualifying for the Champions League round of 16 were dealt an enormous blow after a 5-2 defeat away against Galatasaray in the first leg of their play-off round tie on Tuesday night.
Gabriel Sara opened the scoring for the hosts, but Juventus still went in for the interval leading 2-1 thanks to a brace from Teun Koopmeiners. The Old Lady capitulated in the second half, though, with goals from Noa Lang (x2), Davinson Sanchez and Sacha Boey, plus a red card for half-time substitute Juan Cabal in the 67th minute.
The situation means that Juventus need to win by a three goal margin at a minimum in the return leg at the Allianz Stadium on Tuesday if they are to keep their Champions League campaign alive.
Del Piero: ‘Maybe it’s not the worst of evils for this Juventus side to play one game a week’
Del Piero was among the pundits on Sky Sport Italia for Tuesday night’s hammering in Istanbul.
The legendary former no.10 was not best pleased with what he saw from Luciano Spalletti’s side, and claims that this sort of performance is what Juventus ‘risk’ if they do not perform at their best.
“All aspects affected Spalletti, outlining that everything went wrong,” Del Piero said (via Tuttosport).
“It shows that if Juventus aren’t at their best, then this is what they risk. That’s the reality. They risk making trivial mistakes, which are punished, they risk not having a real presence on the pitch.
“Galatasaray played an excellent game, they played better. Juve struggled a lot, mentally and physically.
“When you play every three days and you need to be at your best in every game, that’s where you see the real potential in a team and where it can aspire to finish. If Juve can’t find that, they will struggle with having three games a week, despite what they had shown in the weeks before.”
Del Piero went on to explain what Juventus need to do if they are to have any hope of qualifying for the next round of the Champions League. He also conceded that it might not be the worst thing in the world if this current Juve side were to be eliminated, though.
“They need to reverse their energy if they are to get through to the next round, because those Galatasaray players were almost possessed.”
And if the Champions League journey were to come to an end for Juventus next week, Del Piero admitted: “Maybe it’s not the worst of evils for this Juventus side to play one game a week.”