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Capello stands up for Juve
Juventus were booed off the field at the Stadio Delle Alpi, but Fabio Capello has defended their performance against Arsenal.
“I think we put in a good performance against a side that focuses on the counter-attack. We created some chances and didn’t make the most of them, while we gave Arsenal a few opportunities as well, but I complimented my squad and could not have asked for more effort,” insisted the Coach.
The Bianconeri had a mountain to climb after losing the first leg 2-0 at Highbury, but couldn’t go past a 0-0 in Turin and saw Pavel Nedved sent off – their third red card in two Champions League games.
“It certainly isn’t easy to carry on in two competitions, but Arsenal are on fine form at the moment and it would’ve been better to face them a few months ago when they were struggling. Their pace is a particular problem when you’re chasing the game.”
The recent sluggishness has been blamed on Capello’s refusal to rotate the squad, but he claimed the statistics did not back this up.
“I balanced out the squad and the only one who played perhaps too much was Fabio Cannavaro, while everyone else has rested for one reason or another. All the teams who are leading their domestic Divisions are off form at the moment and that is only natural.”
The fans turned on the team in the final stages, unveiling banners urging the players to 'get out their b…s’ with particular jeers aimed at Zlatan Ibrahimovic and calling for Alessandro Del Piero.
“I hope we can end the season on a positive note. We needed the help of the supporters and there was nothing more we could’ve done, so it was ungenerous of the fans to jeer,” said Capello. “I am very happy with the way Ibrahimovic played. Del Piero is an important player for Juve, so we need the fans to help us rather than create splits within the squad. It’s counter-productive.”
In the absence of the injured Del Piero, Juventus seem to lack ideas and creativity in midfield, relying heavily on the long ball game for Ibrahimovic.
“When you’re playing against a team that puts 10 men behind the ball, it’s inevitably going to become difficult to find space. Towards the end we made a few errors, but before Nedved’s red card we did some good things.”
Capello caused shocks before the game by leaving Lilian Thuram on the bench in favour of ex-Bayern Munich man Robert Kovac.
“I needed a central defender who could pass the ball forward to Ibrahimovic faster, and Kovac is a little more accurate in his passing than Thuram. That’s all there is to it.”
The Bianconeri had insisted in the summer that their primary objective was the Champions League, but once again they have crashed out in sluggish manner at the quarter-final stage.
“When you start the season there are two objectives for a Coach and he always puts the Champions League a little bit higher than the domestic title. It’s not easy to win in Europe, but we will try again. Arsenal are a tough side to face at the moment, so they’re definitely contenders for the trophy,” concluded Capello.
Former Juventus star Thierry Henry was interviewed by Sky Italia after the final whistle and explained the secret to Arsenal’s success.
“We cannot say it was easy, but we played like men and defended as a team tonight. Our great first leg allowed us to sit back more in Turin and we couldn’t expect to always play like we did at Highbury. It was very important for us not to concede an early goal,” said the Frenchman.
Milan go on to face Barcelona in the semi-finals, while Arsenal will cross paths with fellow revelations Villarreal – neither of these two sides have ever reached this stage before.
“We’ve proved against Juventus and Real Madrid that we can close them down and progress, but I wouldn’t say we were favourites, as Villarreal have also impressed. It’s going to be a very difficult tie.”
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