Roberto Mancini feels Galatasaray would have won had Juventus” data-scaytid=”3″>Juventus not been given a penalty that was “shall we say strange….”
Roberto Mancini feels Galatasaray would have won had Juventus not been given a penalty that was “shall we say strange….”
The ex-Inter Coach smiled ruefully on the touchline when the referee pointed to the spot for a challenge on Fabio Quagliarella. At the time his side was 1-0 up, then went 2-1 down only to snatch a 2-2 draw at the death.
“I got to know my players a bit more, as I didn’t know all of them well. I knew this would be a tough game because Juventus are a great squad,” Mancini told Sky Sport Italia just two days after taking over from Fatih Terim.
“We fell back physically in the second half, so this team needs to work and we’ll have time for that on the break for international duty.
“It was a strange game, as Juve went behind and they were awarded a penalty that was, shall we say, strange? I think without that they would not have been able to score tonight. I don’t think it was a penalty.”
Didier Drogba opened the scoring and set up the second for Galatasaray in Turin.
“Drogba was incredible and in all honesty I didn’t expect him to play like this. He was extraordinary. I couldn’t do much in two days, so I have so far tried to learn the names of the players and bring a little organisation in.
“I don’t think this is the best Juventus, as shown by their recent struggles, but that’s normal for a team that has won everything in two years. They also face teams that are more closed down and block the spaces.
“We had decided to sit back and wait for them to ensure we wouldn’t leave space behind the defence, as we knew Juve liked long passes with Andrea Pirlo over the top.
“The first half went well, but after the break we lost something in terms of stamina and Juve were able to pin us back more.”