Juventus coach Andrea Pirlo was left frustrated that his side gifted Porto an early lead as the Italian champions fell to a 2-1 defeat in their Champions League last-16 first-leg match on Wednesday.
Mehdi Taremi put the Portuguese side in front after 63 seconds when Rodrigo Bentancur misjudged a back pass to set up the striker for a simple finish from close range.
“We prepared for the game well, differently from how it was during the match,” Pirlo told Sky Sport Italia. “That wasn’t the attitude that we wanted to impose, but when you go down a goal after a minute it gets harder.
“We knew that they close up the spaces very well, it was the match that they wanted to play, and we handed it to them on a silver platter.”
Moussa Marega added a second for the hosts 23 seconds into the second half before Federico Chiesa struck late to earn Juventus a precious away goal, but it was a disappointing performance from the Italian champions.
“The approach went wrong after the first minute. When you concede a goal like that it’s normal that you get a little afraid, you lose the confidence that you should never lack in a last-16 tie,” Pirlo added.
Porto coach Sergio Conceicao oversaw an impressive defensive display from his side, despite Chiesa’s goal ending a run of five consecutive clean sheets in the Champions League.
But the manager will not send his team to Italy simply to hold onto their slender advantage in the second leg in Turin on March 9.
“We need to be rigorous defensively, it’ll be a different game,” Conceicao said. “Juve need to perform a comeback, but that doesn’t mean we will go there just to defend. We’ll see who will play, if the characteristics of the players are different.”
