Guardiola and Allegri proud after Munich thriller
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Article summary
Josep Guardiola admitted Bayern had a very narrow escape against Juventus after the 4-2 extra-time victory which had rival coach Massimiliano Allegri ruing lost opportunities.
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Article body
- Josep Guardiola congratulates both teams after epic last-16 tie
- Bayern boss: "At half-time I said if we scored one, anything could happen"
- Opposite number Massimiliano Allegri rues missed chances
- Juve coach: "Nobody expected us to play like this in Munich"
- Quarter-final draw streamed live on UEFA.com from 12.00CET on Friday
Josep Guardiola, Bayern coach
We played and won against one of last season's finalists. We scored four goals against an Italian team. And now we are playing in the quarter-finals. So congratulations to my players but also to Juventus.
During half-time I told the players that they could not afford to concede another goal, but that if we could score one ourselves, anything could happen, especially with the German mentality. I asked them to play more down the wings, with Ribéry and Costa. Then at the start of the second half Juve had some chances but after that we took control of the game. This is football: one minute you play badly, the next you are really good.
Juventus are a really strong team. Early on we were quite nervous. Imagine if they had scored the third goal, that would have been it. But it was us who scored and we took charge. Especially in extra time there was just one team playing and that was Bayern.
Massimiliano Allegri, Juventus coach
I would like to say well done to my team. This was a massive test and we performed really well for 65 minutes, creating good opportunities. But we made a big mistake at the end, we should have done better there. That's football, although of course I am a little bit disappointed.
We were leading 2-0 and had the chance to make it three. We played well and showed our qualities. Lewandowski's goal was one of the rare chances they had. And the game was nearly over at 2-1. We had opportunities to win it but did not take them. I am satisfied but disappointed. Satisfied with the opening 70 minutes. But football is sometimes all about little details, and in the end it was a detail in the last minute when Müller made it 2-2.
Nobody expected us to play like this against Bayern in Munich. We lost but we can be proud of our performance here tonight. Now we have to concentrate on the Italian championship and look forward to next season in the Champions League.