Pep: great performance
February 24, 2016
Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola says he was delighted with the team's overall performance despite throwing away a two-goal advantage to draw with Juventus.
Just five teams have beaten Juventus since their move to the Juventus Stadium in 2011 - Bayern are the only foreign side to win there in European competition. After Thomas Müller and Arjen Robben put the German team into the driving seat, it was shaping up to be a third away win in Turin for the Bavarians.
But a late onslaught from the home side, resulting in goals for Alvaro Morata and Stefano Sturaro leaves this last-16 tie still in the balance. "I am very happy with the performance," Guardiola said after the game.
"We played very well for 90 minutes. Of course, it would have been nice to win, but we played against last year's finalists. The performance was amazing. In the second leg, it will be just as difficult as it is today. Juventus have a great mentality."
Bayern weren't fancied ahead of this tie following some unconvincing league form and a spate of injuries in defense. Joshua Kimmich, Bayern's stand-in centre-back, was caught out for both Juventus goals, but was overall impressive given his age. A change in formation from the hosts around the hour mark then saw Bayern's midfield chasing shadows for the remainder of the second period.
"If you control the match that well against a top team, you have to finish it as well. That's what was lacking in the second half," Robben told UEFA's official website, adding that Bayern "have a lot of confidence, but we have to finish it off" in the second leg. "All the chaos in the stadium caused us to lose our composure a bit," summarized goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
Meanwhile, Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri has praised his side's response to going 2-0 down and thinks the Old Lady have come away from the first leg with a positive result.
"We have come out after the first half and played phenomenal in the second half," the Juventus coach told reporters. "That is why we are very happy with the result. Despite going down 2-0 against Bayern, it was a great performance from the team. "