Alvaro Morata saw ‘progress’ from Juventus in the 1-1 draw with Villarreal, but warns the Champions League Round of 16 remains wide open.
Dusan Vlahovic opened the scoring at La Ceramica within 32 seconds of his debut in the tournament, but Dani Parejo equalised after an Adrien Rabiot error.
“We put a lot of effort in and it’s a pity we weren’t able to get the victory,” Morata told Mediaset.
“Villarreal played well, it was a very physical game. Everything is to play for in the second leg.”
It was the third consecutive 1-1 draw for Juventus in all competition after the same result with Atalanta and Torino, although this time it was the Bianconeri who took the lead.
“I certainly saw progress,” continued the striker.
“We face difficult situations in a different way now as a group, as a team. Everyone said we would go through, but Villarreal won the Europa League last season and are climbing back up the table domestically.
“Everyone can cause problems in the Champions League, we need a great performance in the second leg.”
The away goals rule has been abolished, which had been responsible for the last two Juventus eliminations from the Champions League.
“Whoever gets through this tie….they’ll lose the next round.” 🤦♂️
Owen Hargreaves and @petercrouch still think this Juventus squad needs some surgery before they can compete for the #UCL again… pic.twitter.com/TScACHsKvG
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) February 22, 2022
Shoddy play from Morata. Two good chances and they weren’t even on target. He has got to hit the target! Nit looking forward to the 2nd leg, and if they go through the QF could be UGLY