Predrag Mijatovic looks ahead to Juventus-Real Madrid tonight, and insists he wasn’t offside in the 1998 Champions League final.
The Bianconeri face Los Merengues in the first leg of their Quarter-Final tonight, and while they have a good record over two legs they lost 4-1 in last year’s final and 1-0 20 years ago.
“They keep saying it was offside, but look at [Gianluca] Pessotto, he’s out of the frame he could be keeping everyone onside…” Mijatovic smiled, speaking to Gazzetta dello Sport.
Predrag Mijatovic looks ahead to Juventus-Real Madrid tonight, and insists he wasn’t offside in the 1998 Champions League final.
The Bianconeri face Los Merengues in the first leg of their Quarter-Final tonight, and while they have a good record over two legs they lost 4-1 in last year’s final and 1-0 20 years ago.
“They keep saying it was offside, but look at [Gianluca] Pessotto, he’s out of the frame he could be keeping everyone onside…” Mijatovic smiled, speaking to Gazzetta dello Sport.
“Then we celebrated with Juventus’ champagne, they were gentlemen to give it to us. Even today, all around the world, I find Italians who shout something at me.
“If they insult me I turn around, but these days they mostly make jokes… some Interisti still thank me though!
“VAR? If used properly and at the right time I like it, but the final responsibility must be the referee’s.
“If we had VAR in 1998? They’d have seen Pessotto…”
Mijatovic also discussed the current sides, including former Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain.
“In January 2007 I was Real’s sporting director. I’d heard about his talent, but I wanted to see it with my own eyes.
“I remember a derby with Boca [Juniors] in which he scored [for River Plate]. He had movement, courage, he demanded the ball in the middle of that war. Those things are all worth more than a goal.
“Franco Baldini wasn’t convinced, I took the punt. I convinced [Fabio] Capello not to send him on loan and he scored goals which were decisive for the title.
“He didn’t hear the whistles of the Bernabeu, he had personality and no fear.
“When he had to choose between him and Benzema, [President] Florentino [Perez] preferred the Frenchman: it's normal, that was ‘his’ signing.
“I can assure you though that Gonzalo has nothing less than him. He scored a lot here and then he passed the Italian exam: even now scoring 25 there is equivalent to 40 in Spain.”
But Argentinians say he misses chances in big games…
“In the World Cup even [Lionel] Messi missed chances, performances always have to be contextualised. Any sane Coach would want him.
“When they say he’s overweight it makes me laugh: but if he always scores…?”
Mijatovic then turned his attention to Los Blancos’ 4-1 win in the final last year.
“I’ve said it before, if you look at the statistics Real win finals and Juve lose them,” the former Fiorentina striker shrugged.
“Over two games though there’s no worse opponent, the Bianconeri think about the 180 minutes, they manage the time and take advantage of moments, while other teams are impatient.
“They fight together and they get up together.
“Juventus have seen the nightmare with their own eyes, now they know how and where Madrid can hurt them.
“Real are on a lower level than they were then, but they have a unique mentality in calmness in Europe.
“It’s something that’s inside the club, for example in 1998 we managed the fear of finding ourselves faced with Zizou [Zinedine Zidane] and [Alessandro] Del Piero.
“There’s no recipe, what counts is feeling. Do you know where the 2017 final was decided? In hot-headedness.
“Madrid were serene, Juve were frenetic. The nervousness was carved in their faces. Juve never really dominated, running more doesn’t mean playing better.”