Allegri defiant as Lyon keep Juventus waiting
Games
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane cursed his side’s carelessness after the European champions threw away a twogoal lead against Legia Warsaw and needed a late equaliser from Mateo Kovacic to salvage a 3-3 draw on Wednesday.
Zidane was unhappy how his side lost their intensity amid a strange atmosphere at an empty stadium. UEFA had ruled the game be played behind closed doors after crowd trouble at Legia’s previous Champions League game at the Polish Army Stadium.
Gareth Bale’s stunning acrobatic effort gave Real the lead after 57 seconds -- the club’s fastest goal in the Champions League -- and Karim Benzema made it 2-0 in the 35th minute, only for Legia to stage a stunning comeback.
Thibault Moulin put the Polish champions ahead after goals from Vadis Odjidja and Miroslav Radovic either side of halftime pegged Real back, leaving Zidane angry with his side despite Kovacic averting a first defeat of the season.
“When you score two goals away from home you normally have things under control but in the end we let our opponents back into the game,” Zidane told a news conference.
“Once they got the first goal back it became difficult for us. We lacked everything: intensity, movement, enthusiasm. Sometimes you get games like this and now have to be patient. The good thing is we didn’t lose.”
Real have conceded seven goals in four Champions League games and have now gone 10 games without a clean sheet in all competitions, but Zidane refused to blame his back four.
“It wasn’t the worst game in defence. We started well and scored twice, but if you don’t maintain the necessary intensity to continue playing well it’s difficult.
“Before the game, I said that opponents can cause us problems if we don’t play with enough intensity, and today we relaxed after scoring the two goals. Today, we’re left with a strange sensation.” Cristiano Ronaldo (below),
The Portuguese ended his goal slump with a hat-trick against Alaves earlier this week but looked lost against Legia with manager Zidane employing an unusual formation where he was forced to play deeper than he prefers.
While many of Ronaldo’s layoffs on the night missed their target, he had nine shots, only two of which were on target. TURIN: Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri insists the Italians can still finish top of their Champions League group after a 1-1 draw with Lyon dashed hopes of early qualification to the last 16.
“We have to look at the positives,
He opted to employ just three defenders in the second half in a 3-5-2 formation — a move which backfired as Legia exposed their lack of numbers in defence to score their third goal.
“I wasn’t satisfied with the 2-2 and I tried to solve things. We took a risk by playing with three at the back, but I don’t think that we look like fragile. I’m happy with the defenders because it wasn’t just down to the defenders,” Zidane admitted later. we’ve played another match with Lyon and we’ll now go to Sevilla looking for a win. Then, we have Dinamo Zagreb at home,” Allegri said.
“This draw has taken us a step closer to qualification.”
But after another dominant display at Juventus Stadium, where the Turin giants are now unbeaten in 19 matches in UEFA
The second-choice defence consisting of Nacho and Raphael Varane was exposed by Legia’s forwardline. Right back Dani Carvajal and left back Fabio Coentrao too looked rusty. competition, fans had reason to feel disappointed.
Two weeks after a late Juan Cuadrado strike secured a 1-0 win in France and reinforced top spot in Group H, Gonzalo Higuain stepped up to beat Anthony Lopes from the spot to give the hosts a 13th minute lead.
But Lyon refused to give in and Bruno Genesio’s visitors Real Madrid have now gone without a clean sheet in all competitions were finally rewarded when Corentin Tolisso bundled the ball past Gianluigi Buffon from a long free kick with six minutes left on the clock.
“It gives us a small chance of qualification,” said Tolisso. “Now we’ll hope to win in Zagreb and hope that Juventus beat Sevilla so that we can challenge them for second spot at our
goals away from home you normally have things under control but in the end we let our opponents back into the game. Once they got the first goal back, it became difficult for us. We lacked everything: intensity, movement, enthusiasm” ZINEDINE ZIDANE,
Real Madrid manager ground.”
Sevilla’s win against Dinamo Zagreb means Juventus dropped to second place to sit two points behind the Spaniards and are now just four ahead of Lyon with two games remaining.
It has left Juventus at risk of losing top spot, and the subsequent seeding that goes with it in the last-16 draw, to Sevilla.