Juventus paid the ultimate penalty for wasted chances which saw two spot-kicks help send them crashing out of the Champions League at the hands of Villarreal.
Goals from Gerard Moreno (78 pen), Pau Torres (85) and Arnaut Danjuma (90+2) gave Villarreal a convincing 3-0 win (4-1 on aggregate) in Turin that sees them through to the quarter-finals for the first time since 2009.
Raúl Albiol, Villarreal defender said: “It’s difficult to put into words what Villarreal being back in the Champions League quarter-finals means. It means so much to the fans and the club. We will enjoy this and wait for the draw.”
For most of the game, both teams could not be separated as their matching 4-4-2 formations clashed.
Juventus, however, were able to carve out the majority of the chances and Unai Emery’s Yellow Submarine had to be resilient in their defending, but never looked that uncomfortable.
Dusan Vlahovic was the biggest threat for the Old Lady in what looked like a one-man siege at the Villarreal goal during the first half.
His best chance came in the 21st minute as he rattled the crossbar from a tight angle after Mattia De Sciglio’s low cross.
Villarreal goalkeeper, Gerónimo Rulli said: “We’re here at Juve’s stadium, we were always going to suffer. We defended incredibly and we have to applaud that. We’re happy to still be in the competition.”
Juventus coach, Massimiliano Allegri said: “I think the team played well for over 75 minutes. In the second half, Villarreal decided to just defend in block, but they had one chance and they took it. Football is like that: one episode can change everything.
“We had good chances in the first half, fewer in the second because Villarreal started defending with 11 men, clearly trying to bring the game to extra time. Then that goal changed everything.”
Villarreal striker, Gerard Moreno returned from injury to come off the bench and score the crucial first penalty on 78 minutes after Francis Coquelin was tripped by Daniele Rugani. Moreno’s strike nestled in the bottom right-hand corner, perhaps a touch fortunately, as Wojciech Szczęsny may feel disappointed he didn’t get more of a hand on it.
Unai Emery, Villarreal coach said: “We had a gameplan. We knew there’d be tough moments, but we looked after Gerard and wanted him to come on only when we knew it was right. Today he showed he’s really back.”
Torres added the second in the 85th minute, finishing from close range after Serge Aurier’s near post flick-on from a corner.
Danilo, Juventus defender said: “We made another mistake after their first goal. We still had time to equalise and bring the game to extra time but we all went forward and they punished us.”
Danjuma put the icing on the cake for Villarreal with their second penalty of the game, sweeping the ball into the bottom left-hand corner after Matthijs De Ligt handled the ball while attempting to block.
*All quotes from UEFA.com
