Olympique Lyonnais coach Rudi Garcia has defended Juventus coach Maurizio Sarri ahead of their clash in the Champions League. ‘They were still the best’.

The Bianconeri coach has received criticism for his style of play in his first season at the Allianz Stadium but his opponent in the last 16 of the Champions League, Garcia, points out that Sarri ‘won the League in 36 games’.

“I have seen the Bianconeri games,” Garcia told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “I know that there are those who say they didn’t play well.

Olympique Lyonnais coach Rudi Garcia has defended Juventus coach Maurizio Sarri ahead of their clash in the Champions League. ‘They were still the best’.

The Bianconeri coach has received criticism for his style of play in his first season at the Allianz Stadium but his opponent in the last 16 of the Champions League, Garcia, points out that Sarri ‘won the League in 36 games’.

“I have seen the Bianconeri games,” Garcia told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “I know that there are those who say they didn’t play well.

“I reply that Juve won the League in 36 games, and not just because the opponents dropped.

“If they had needed the points in the last few games, they would have picked them up. We can say that they play worse than before, but they are the strongest.

“What do people want? That the team win right? They have it in their DNA and any coach who arrives must cultivate it.

“Sarri did it and won, and now his play is being judged. All I say is that they were still the best.”

The former Roma coach has claimed Ligue 1 was ‘too quick’ stopping football in France and is afraid it will make the League ‘weaker’.

“Those who played got tired, those who didn’t lost their rhythm,” he added. “But in reality, everyone started again except us, so it means they were too quick to decide with us.

“It was better to wait to see what the others did. The Leagues and UEFA should have shared more information. Here [in France], the problem will be economic.

“We have lost many millions and the thing that everyone must do, except perhaps PSG, will be to find money. To do so, they must sell the best.

“As soon as the market reopens, we will lose many players and we will be weakened even more.

“The incredible thing is that all the countries that have continued to play, did so without spectators, while we, who stopped, took to the pitch for the Coupe de la Ligue Final with 5,000 people in the stadium.

“Can you explain why?”

Garcia’s men lead 1-0 over Juventus after the first leg in France and the Bianconeri host Lyon this Friday to decide who travels to Lisbon this month.

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