Giorgio Chiellini has denied talk of a bust-up during Juventus’ 4-1 defeat to Real Madrid in 2017 but rued how ‘Finals always come too late for us’.
Juve were holding Madrid 1-1 in the Champions League Final but conceded three goals without reply after the restart, amidst speculation Chiellini and co. argued in their dressing room.
Giorgio Chiellini has denied talk of a bust-up during Juventus’ 4-1 defeat to Real Madrid in 2017 but rued how ‘Finals always come too late for us’.
Juve were holding Madrid 1-1 in the Champions League Final but conceded three goals without reply after the restart, amidst speculation Chiellini and co. argued in their dressing room.
However, the defender – in another excerpt from his new autobiography, ‘Io, Giorgio’ – maintained his teammates were only ‘tired’.
“There’s been a lot of talk about Cardiff in the famous Champions League Final defeat to Real Madrid,” wrote the 35-year-old.
“Well, nothing strange happened. We were just tired. Nothing sensational happened at half-time. No-one fought.
“We lost because we were exhausted. Finals always come too late for us. We were extremely tired after the first half, Mandzukic was unable to walk and Pjanic the same.
“Both of them had their knees treated while the coach talked to us. We were short of breath so we tried to egg each other on.
“It was 1-1, but then it ended dramatically.”