Juventus, another Champions failure: Porto after Ajax and Lyon

Champions League 2018/19, Ajax eliminates Juventus in the quarterfinals. Champions 2019/20, Lyon signs the surprise of the second round by sending Juve de Sarri home. Champions 2020/21, Pirlo concludes his first Champions League as a coach in the round of 16 against Porto. After the Cardiff final of 2017, lost 4-1 to Real Madrid, Juventus of Europe have had three serious failures. And if going out in the quarterfinals with the usual Real Madrid (2027/18) in injury time for a questionable penalty is rationally acceptable, being eliminated three times in a row by significantly inferior teams, also penalizes the failure of Ronaldo’s operation, taken. to make a difference in Europe and never be in the top 4.

HELLO ALLEGRI

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After the astonishing comeback against Atlético de Madrid, with the epic hat-trick of Ronaldo and players like Bernardeschi and Spinazzola on the cover in the 3-0 win over Simeone, the quarter-finals with Ajax marked a milestone for Massimiliano Allegri. His cycle of eleven trophies, in fact, ends with a 2-1 defeat at the Stadium after the 1-1 of the first leg. The worst night in Europe in Max’s amazing cycle. An afternoon in which, more than the coach, they catch too many players, with only Szczesny, Emre Can and Ronaldo up to the task. But Allegri really pays, to put a pro-European spin on the level of play. A choice, in hindsight, totally wrong results in hand.

SARRI, FRENCH TEARS

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The turning point of the good season of games is basically a failure, despite the ninth consecutive championship. Especially because in the Champions League, after the post-Covid break, there is a sensational elimination with Lyon. The first leg in France is shameful: Rudi García’s team wins 1-0 and in the second leg, played in August, capitalizes on a penalty scored at the start despite Cristiano Ronaldo’s subsequent double. And to think that at the time of the draw, the pairing with Lyon was hailed as the easiest after winning the group.

I’LL TAKE THE CHAMPIONS

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A bit of the same script from this unfortunate season, which is fully manifested with Porto. Undisputed Juve in Portugal and kept alive by Chiesa’s goal in the final, in the return leg left by Pirlo’s team not only because of the many unfavorable episodes. We mention two above all: Morata’s 3-1 canceled by millimeter offside and Cuadrado’s crossbar, both in the final. But we must not forget that Porto is far inferior to Juve and that they played for more than an hour with ten men. In the year of the income massacred by the coronavirus, an exit that also hurts finances. And it is that, in an evening in which Ronaldo takes half (the play that favors the 1-1 for Chiesa), beginning to talk about the Juve that will be, it is precisely a number that stimulates the debate, the 31 (about 58). gross, plus another 29 for amortization), so Ronaldo is still on the payroll for next season. After all, having CR7 in the Champions League did not contribute anything, quite the opposite. This season, CR7 has too often been the shadow of himself, of the player that he once was and may not be. But the regrets count for zero, there is a complex future to plan.