Bayern Munich joined Juventus in suffering Champions League elimination to Unai Emery’s Villarreal, but that doesn’t give Massimiliano Allegri’s side an excuse for their poor European performance.
The German giants lost 2-1 on aggregate to the Spanish challengers yesterday, only managing to pick up a 1-1 draw at home as Samuel Chukwueze scored an 88th minute equaliser to secure the result. Villarreal have now qualified for the Champions League semi-finals, an incredible feat for a team competing with significantly less resources than their opponents.
However, Bayern’s loss cannot be used by Juventus or their fans to justify their miserable work in the Champions League this season. It’s been a long time since the heights of the final in 2017 and suffering elimination at the hands of Ajax, Lyon, Porto and now Villarreal highlight that there’s issues limiting the team’s work on a European stage.
Allegri’s Juventus only managed to score one goal across two legs against Villarreal and €80m man Dusan Vlahovic also failed to hit the mark, suggesting more of a tactical failing instead of the Serbian’s culpability.
The Old Lady need to change shake things up in the summer if they want any hope of returning to the latter stage of the Champions League once again, so all eyes will be on Allegri and the work carried out in Turin.