Juventus icon Alessandro Del Piero saw a comprehensive difference between his beloved club and PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday night.
The Bianconeri suffered yet another embarrassing Champions League elimination, this time at the hands of the Dutch champions.
The Old Lady entered the second leg with a small advantage having won the first leg at home by two goals to one. However, PSV raised the tempo in the second half to earn a 2-1 result that set up extra-time. Peter Bosz’s men then confirmed their superiority by scoring the winner in the 98th minute and booking their place in the Champions League Round of 16.
After the contest, Juventus captain Manuel Locatelli admitted their opponents wanted it more, something that his manager Thiago Motta refused to acknowledge.
Nevertheless, Del Piero did indeed notice a sizable gap in terms of desire as well as intensity. He believes the Bianconeri only decided to go for the goal when it was already too late.
“There is a huge gap and it was clearly visible tonight,” said the legendary Juventus Number 10 in his post-match appearance on Sky Sport Italia (via IlBianconero).
“The difference lies in the desire and intensity with which the two teams looked for the goal. PSV created many dangerous chances, while Juventus only came out in the second half of extra time, when the Dutch decided to defend themselves.”
Juve’s elimination rounded off a miserable midweek for Serie A clubs, as Milan and Atalanta were also thrown out at the hands of Feyenoord and Club Brugge respectively. Del Piero believes the Rossoneri were the only ones who might have an excuse for their shortcomings.
“Among the three teams that exited the Champions League, Milan is the one with the most extenuating circumstances.”
The iconic striker was arguably referring to Theo Hernandez’s red card which left Milan with a man down when the contest was level.
