JUVE BLOWN IT!
Chiellini taunts brittle Spurs as they crash out of Europe
ToTTenham crashed out of the Champions League last night amid taunts from Juventus hero Giorgio Chiellini about their reputation for crumbling when it matters.
Son heung-min gave Spurs the lead but the Italians struck twice in three minutes to win 2-1 on the night, 4-3 on aggregate, and move into the last eight.
‘It’s the history of Tottenham,’ crowed Chiellini. ‘They always create many chances and score so much but in the end they always miss something.
‘We believe in the history. The history and the experience is important and tonight we used our skill and arrive at the win. For us it is an amazing night. It was difficult, we knew that but we believed we would win.
‘ We know the fantastic players Tottenham have, Kane, eriksen, alli,
but we knew they concede many chances every game, and at the end of the first half we believed it. We said to ourselves, keep calm and chance will surely arrive. ‘We had to be concentrated and take our chance whenever it happened. We have arrived at the quarter-final, it was our target.’ Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino, however, refused to criticise his team or accept that they lacked the required experience or concentration. ‘I feel very proud, we played well against a very good team,’ said Pochettino, who confessed on the eve of the game to being one of football’s dreamers. ‘It is not a nightmare. This is football. I still am a dreamer. We dominated. Overall in two games we were much better. But at this level in three minutes the tie turned for Juventus. ‘If you don’t create, don’t play, don’t dominate and you lose to a team that is better than you, you can say we need this and that. ‘But when you show similar qualities and compete on the same level against a team who played in two finals in the last three seasons, you can feel proud and happy. ‘You must understand in football you cannot always win. Only one can go to the next stage. Unfortunately for us, we are out. ‘Now we try to see the future in a positive way and improve. We
must keep going and try to see the future and play again in this competition. In football you can’t stop.’ Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala scored the goals for Juventus with their first two shots on target. ‘We are used to these games,’ said Juventus manager Max Allegri. ‘That’s why we go in with a clear head, feeling calm. ‘We have been in eight or nine finals and we are part of the history of this competition. ‘Sometimes you can be negative and say yes, you’ve lost some of those finals, but we are improving as a team. ‘It is great to walk away from this temple of football with a winning feeling.’ BT pundit Rio Ferdinand, who won the competition with Manchester United in 2008, questioned Spurs’ mentality, saying: ‘This is another hurdle they haven’t got over, mentally they need to get back from this. They need these moments to be a top European club. ‘But Juve lull you in, Tottenham’s defenders were lax and a split second of loss of concentration cost them. Roy Keane added on ITV: ‘Inexperience was huge tonight. Juventus found a way to win and Tottenham found a way to lose. ‘Three or four minutes of madness has cost them.’