Juventus Coach Antonio Conte conceded
that the 1-1 draw with Copenhagen was
“cursed”. I don’t remember so many chances one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Juventus were held in their Champions League
opener in Denmark despite having 22 chances – more than any other side in
today’s games. It was remarkably similar to last year’s 1-1 draw with Danes Nordsjaelland.
“I
don’t think anyone was underestimated, especially with last season’s lesson,
though this was even worse than Nordsjaelland, as it was a
siege,”Conte told Sky Sport Italia.
“Experience
teaches me if you don’t put the ball in the net then you’re not going to win.
We have to learn that no matter how many chances you create, they have to go
in. I don’t remember another time when we had so many chances one-on-one with
the goalkeeper and from point-blank range.”
Swedish
goalkeeper Johan Wiland performed heroics in the Copenhagen
goal, despite his poor start to the season.
“It’s
amazing people said the goalkeeper was in crisis, but he performed 11 amazing
saves. Even with his performance, we still should’ve done better to score. It’s
a shame, especially seeing the result in Turkey, as winning today would’ve put
us in a very strong position.”
“This is football and if you don’t get it over
the line then you risk defeat. I fielded some taller players today to counter
their power in the air, but we still conceded from a set play,” noted Conte, who surprisingly left FernandoLlorente on the bench.
“I
made some players warm up, including Llorente and Giovinco, as I wanted to see
how the game was going to develop. Against a side with players who are strong
in the air but slow, it would be stupid to play with tall forwards.Tevez, Quagliarella and Giovinco gave
them the most problems, as they are shorter and quick.
“They
worked for the team and had great chances. This felt like a cursed game.
Copenhagen were playing only to get corners or free kicks to float it into the
box.
“We
tried to bring more pace down the flanks, but at the end of the day if the ball
doesn’t go in the net, we’re here talking about thin air.
“Inevitably
in the first 25 minutes we met a team that went all out, though we also moved
the ball around a bit too slowly. Perhaps we should’ve spread the play more, as
we did in the second half, and their tempo also dropped because they couldn’t
keep that up.
“The
spaces opened up and we were able to create chances for our forwards that
unfortunately we didn’t make the most of.”
