Juventus out of Champions League.
Cristiano Ronaldo was not enough to avoid Champions League elimination against Olympique Lyonnais. The Portuguese scored both goals in the 2-1 victory over Lyon but the French visitors win on aggregate (2-2). Indeed he scored all 7 goals for Juventus in the European top competition this season.
The French team was on the scoreboard by Depay at the 10th minutes converting a controversial penalty given by the referee. The French enjoyed a two goal lead until another controversial penalty was given this time to Juventus a few minutes before the break. Cristiano Ronaldo scored as we head into the break. The Portuguese added another goal with a phenomenal strike tallying a career record of 67 goals in the Champions League. His elite performance was not enough to avoid an early elimination for Juventus. Lyon move on to face Man City who disposed of Real Madrid in the round of 16.
For Cristiano Ronaldo, coach Sarri and the whole city of Juventus, the elimination is big upset for a club who brought Cristiano from Real Madrid to win this competition. Juventus did win Serie A for a record nine consecutive time but all lost the Italian Cup final to Napoli. The season ends for Juve on a negative note and he did not take long for the management team to make conclusions. They fired coach Sarri the next morning following the elimination against Lyon.
Post-game reactions
Defender Leonardo Bonucci:
“There is disappointment, we expected a match like this, we conceded a goal from a penalty. Then we overturned it and created a lot. But football is like this and sometimes you don’t reap what you sow. Tonight, we gave everything, we had to do better in Lyon in the first leg. We showed that the conditions were there, creating five clear scoring chances, but we must congratulate them for qualification to the next round. It was an unusual season. The main objective was to win the championship and we did that. Then we knew that in the Champions League, with this formula, anything could have happened. And that we would have to do everything possible to qualify for Lisbon. We gave our best, but we didn’t succeed.”
Midfielder Miralem Pjanic:
“We really wanted to get through the shift. We started the game badly, suffering the penalty, but we got back into the game and we are very sorry not to be able to qualify. We paid for the first leg, where we didn’t play very well and there is great disappointment, because this club has to aspire for more in Europe.
We must not belittle what we have done, because winning is not easy, we have made it seem so in recent years. But certainly in the Champions League, with this squad, this team can and must try to win. However, I am convinced that this group will continue to do well.”
Lyon coach Rudi Garcia on advancing:
We knew it would be difficult. We scored, that’s what we wanted to do. Nothing was finished but it was a goal that matters a lot. I regret seeing Juve come back with a non-existent penalty. It put them back into the match. We didn’t panic. The substitutes were very good. They held the ball. They managed to finish the job. It’s a victory won as a group. We must not set limits on ourselves. We will fine-tune before the trip to Lisbon. We will have an outsider status but we will do everything to qualify for the semifinal. “
