Igor Tudor attributed Juventus` 2-2 away draw against Villarreal in the Champions League on Wednesday evening to excessive franticness, nervousness, and numerous misplaced passes. However, he staunchly defended his backline, asserting that his defenders are performing `better than anyone else,` even amidst criticisms of the team conceding too many goals.
The Bianconeri initially conceded but managed to recover and take a 2-1 lead. Their advantage was then dramatically nullified in the 90th minute when 2024-25 loanee Renato Veiga scored from a corner, securing a late equalizer in the Champions League group stage match on Wednesday night.
Tudor: “I regret this, Juventus cannot concede a goal like that.”
In his post-match interview, Tudor started by apologizing to the Juventus faithful, emphasizing that his team absolutely `cannot` afford to concede goals from corners in the final moments of a match, as occurred in Spain.
“I am disappointed, but this is an inherent part of the game. It is unacceptable to lose a match in the dying seconds due to a corner kick like that. We must accept this single point and shift our focus forward.”
Tudor elaborated, “We prepared and worked to the best of our abilities, yet we encountered several challenges. There was an overwhelming sense of urgency and excessive nervousness, which led to numerous basic passing errors.”
Before Veiga`s equalizer, Juventus displayed significant improvement in the second half. Tudor specifically credited half-time substitute Francisco Conceicao for this positive shift.
“Chico entered the game and proved to be a decisive factor,” Tudor noted. “We gave our utmost, even with some errors. Regrettably, those critical moments occurred in the closing minutes of the game.”
Addressing concerns about Juventus` defensive vulnerabilities, Tudor responded, “Our three central defenders are performing exceptionally well, arguably better than any other players. Our focus needs to be on winning more second balls. The back three maintained their defensive solidity throughout the entire match.”
Commenting on goal-scorer Federico Gatti, he added, “That was an outstanding goal, and he delivered a superb performance.”
Tudor concluded by saying, “It is always disappointing to concede a goal in the final minute. While it would be ideal to sustain a top-tier performance for the entire 90 minutes, that is not easily achievable. We, too, have our areas of weakness.”
