Giorgio Chiellini believed history was on Juventus’ side against Tottenham, as the Serie A champions battled back to advance past Spurs in the last-16 of the Champions League.
Tottenham had snatched a 2-2 draw in Turin and managed to further take a grip on the tie during the first half at Wembley Stadium with Heung-Min Son’s goal giving Spurs a 1-0 advantage on the evening.
Juventus, however, would find the two goals they needed over a three-minute span in the second half, with the Argentine duo of Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala finding the net in the 64th and 67th minute respectively.
Spurs came close late to equalizing, with Harry Kane seeing a header that bounce off the inside of the post late on, but the Bianconeri did enough to hold on for the 4-3 win on aggregate and secure a place in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Despite the difficulties Juventus faced, and the quality of the Spurs side they were up against, Chiellini said Spurs’ lack of history in the competition and gave them hope.
“Tottenham have a lot of great players – Kane, [Christian] Eriksen, [Dele] Alli – but we knew they always give up a lot of chances,” Chiellini told BT Sport. “It’s the history of Tottenham. They always create a lot of chances but they always miss out. We always believe in the history.
Chiellini even referenced Real Madrid’s victory over PSG on Tuesday as further proof the history and mentality of a club can make the difference.
Chiellini added: “You see in the game between Madrid and Paris, the history is important. We used our skill and arrived at the win.”
Higuain also praised Tottenham after the game, but said Juventus knew the Premier League outfit would give up chances to get back on top in the tie — it was on Juventus to take them.
“It was a very difficult match against a great side like Tottenham, who always give their best and are aggressive, but we know English teams always leave gaps at the back and would give us opportunities,” Higuain told Mediaset Premium.
“We had to make the most of them and we did. I’m very happy with this win, as a comeback at Wembley is not easy.”
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Courtesy of Goal.com – the world’s largest football website. |
