Former Serie A stars Alessandro Del Piero and Paolo Di Canio hit out at ‘terrible and embarrassing’ Juventus after their Champions League elimination in the group stage.
The Bianconeri lost 4-3 against Benfica last night but were 4-1 down after just 50 minutes. Youngsters introduced by Massimiliano Allegri in the final stages of the match helped Juventus partially save face but could not avoid their first elimination in the group stage since 2013.
“The goals conceded by Juventus were embarrassing,” Di Canio told Sky Sport Italia.
“There was no attention or collective desire, you don’t need top-class defenders to avoid those kinds of goals. Juventus were embarrassing, Benfica had no problems attacking and Juventus’ defensive phase was ridiculous.
“Reading the game by just considering the final 20 minutes would be a bad error.”
Former Juventus captain Alessandro Del Piero shared the same view and did not have nice words for the Bianconeri.
“Benfica dominated, the final 20 minutes gave a little hope, but the performance was terrible. It could have ended 4-4, but Benfica could have also scored the fifth goal.”
Juventus had never lost four games in the opening five in the Champions League group stage and this is the first time Allegri failed to qualify for the Round of 16.
The Bianconeri need a better goal difference than Maccabi Haifa to end third in Group C and qualify for Europa League. This coming Saturday, they visit Lecce in Serie A.