Juve duo Barzagli, Buffon bow to superior Bayern

Andrea Barzagli and Gianluigi Buffon both believe FC Bayern München can go all the way in the UEFA Champions League after Juventus's second 2-0 quarter-final loss to the German title winners in eight days. "They were better than us physically, technically and mentally," admitted the Bianconeri goalkeeper. Barzagli also backed Bayern – praising former VfL Wolfsburg team-mate Mario Mandžukić who scored the opener in Turin with a diving header – but noted that these kinds of games will help his side improve in the future.

Andrea Barzagli, Juventus defender
We tried hard tonight. Maybe we could have done a bit more in the first leg as we did not play our best game in Munich. However, today we tried hard to attack them but Bayern once again proved to be a great team. We can only congratulate them.

They are a great side, with a great deal of experience in the Champions League compared with us. That is the conclusion we can draw from the tie – we can only hope to improve in order to be more competitive in a couple of years. For most of us it was our first experience in the Champions League. These are great games, facing fantastic players – it can certainly help to improve a team like ours who are lacking experience in the competition.

In general, the Champions League campaign was certainly positive – the Champions League is extraordinary. We lost but it was a nice evening anyway, also thanks to our great supporters. I have always said Bayern could be European champions this season as they are extremely strong. They are certainly capable of going all the way. Mario Mandžukić's goal? He is doing great things – I congratulated him and wished him luck. I'm very happy for him.

Gianluigi Buffon, Juventus goalkeeper
We have no regrets after tonight's game. Currently, this is our level and it was not enough against a team like Bayern – simple. They were better than us physically, technically and mentally. The main difference is experience. Bayern have reached two finals in three years. Their squad have played together for quite a while now. This is an important advantage for them.

We knew they were strong, even if to be honest they were better on the pitch than we expected. I think it's right to stress this because we have to recognise their great strength. Tonight they impressed me even more than they did in the first leg because we really gave our best at home. They can definitely win the cup. After beating the reigning champions [Chelsea FC], we thought we could compete with any team but Bayern proved they were too strong for us.