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Munich's Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes believes that the key to his players' victory was stopping Andrea Pirlo. On Tuesday evening, in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals at Bayern's home arena, they defeated Turin's Juventus 2-0.
Andrea Pirlo, who plays a very important role in the Juventus team, orchestrating the entire game, did not touch the ball for long at the Allianz Arena stadium. This was part of the German plan.
"We were well prepared for this match. You could see it in our tactics. We started attacking early and collectively pushed Pirlo out of the game. The early goal gave us security and allowed us to play incredibly at certain moments," said Heynckes.
"I analyzed Juventus' game many times. We are happy that we won the match and didn't concede a goal. We played high-level football. We controlled the ball and dominated the match. And all this against the Italian champions. I have to praise my team," said the Bayern coach, who will hand over his position to Josep Guardiola after the season.
The Bayern coach instructed his players to press the Juventus defenders - the key to starting the Italians' attacks.
"We played intensely on both sides. The defensive work started in the attack. It was clear that we wanted to win. I don't think it was a bad day for Pirlo. We pressed Juventus and forced them to play long passes," said Thomas Muller.
After the match, Andrea Pirlo admitted that he takes the blame for Juventus' defeat.
"I am not satisfied with my performance. I made a lot of mistakes in such an important match. I am disappointed. Now we have to analyze the game and understand why we made so many bad passes," he said.
