Juventus coach Igor Tudor expressed his fury after his side conceded a late equaliser to draw 2-2 with Villarreal in the Champions League on Wednesday. The Croatian coach blamed missed chances and nerves for the draw but came to the defence of his centre-backs amid criticism for their sloppiness in recent matches.
Juventus’ draw with Villareal
An acrobatic finish from Fabio Gatti helped Juventus level early in the second-half after Villarreal had taken the lead in the first through Georges Mikautadze. With the score at 1-1, Francesco Conceicao capitalised on a misplaced pass from Villarreal captain Dani Parejo, ran through on goal and slotted it past goalkeeper Arnau Tenas in the 56th minute. Just when it looked like the Italians would take all three points, former Juventus player Renato Veiga scored in the 90th minute with a header from a corner, and the match ended in a 2-2 draw.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportTudor's frustrations and missed chances
In a post-match interview with , Juventus coach Tudor expressed his anger, saying: “I'm angry; you can't throw the game away in the final seconds because of a corner like that. It's disappointing because we had the game in hand.
“During half-time, I gave concrete instructions and asked them to be positive. Then Conceicao made the difference. Where did we go wrong? There's regret for not having closed it out sooner; we had two chances with [Jonathan] David and at 3-1 it would have been over. Too much frenzy and nervousness, too many simple misplaced passes.”
Finally, he accepted the shared point, adding: “We pushed hard in the second half, a great second half, they were better in the first. We'll take this point and move on.”
Tudor's defence of his backline
Juventus have conceded 11 goals in their last five games across all competitions, including seven against Inter and Dortmund. However, Tudor spoke highly of his defenders, believing they have done well and kept things from going worse.
“The three at the back are all doing well, they keep the team afloat every game,” he added: “We're a bit lacking in ball possession, we're last in this statistic. The team is there, it would be nice to play at a high level for 90 minutes, but it's not easy. We also have our weaknesses and our difficulties.”
Getty Images SportJuventus' clash against Milan and Allegri's return
Juventus are set to host Serie A table-toppers AC Milan on Sunday, and Tudor will hope his team can produce their best performance in what will be Massimiliano Allegri’s return to the Allianz Stadium.