Andrea Barzagli took responsibility for the first goal, but could only “admire the gesture” on Cristiano Ronaldo’s second as Real Madrid beat Juventus 3-0.
“Playing against one of the best in the world, if not the best, you have to be perfect. We weren’t and it showed, as he punished us immediately,” the veteran defender told Mediaset Premium.
Andrea Barzagli took responsibility for the first goal, but could only “admire the gesture” on Cristiano Ronaldo’s second as Real Madrid beat Juventus 3-0.
“Playing against one of the best in the world, if not the best, you have to be perfect. We weren’t and it showed, as he punished us immediately,” the veteran defender told Mediaset Premium.
“Ronaldo then scored a goal that will remain in history and in the end we risked losing by an even bigger scoreline, so we have to accept this defeat and move on.
“He has scored in 10 consecutive Champions League games, so it’s not as if it was all our fault. He is lethal and has become a player with great power, determination, technique and movement in the box, so he always scores goals.”
The second goal was a spectacular overhead kick that had the Allianz Juventus Stadium crowd on its feet.
“I admired the gesture, unfortunately he did it against us. Most of the crowd in the stadium applauded and that says it all. I heard a really loud thud as he made contact with the ball and that’s rare, because usually with an overhead kick you don’t hit it very hard.
“Ronaldo is one of the best in the world and he proved that again tonight.
“On the first goal, I take on more of the responsibility. I was marking (Karim) Benzema, Giorgio (Chiellini) called me to cover the near post, but Benzema very cleverly held me back. Not everyone can score off the outside of the boot from there, it was a fantastic finish, but I will admit it was above all my mistake.”