Iván Helguera's first-half header gave Real
Madrid CF a narrow one-goal victory at the Santiago Bernabéu to give the
Spanish side the edge in their UEFA Champions League first knockout
round tie with Juventus FC. It was Vanderlei Luxemburgo's first taste of
the Champions League and the Brazilian coach was "delighted" with the
way his side had played. Juve's unhappy night was compounded by the loss
of the talismanic Pavel Nedved to injury in the first half. Luxemburgo
admitted Nedved's departure had been "a blow to Juve", a feeling
mirrored by his Juventus counterpart Fabio Capello.
Vanderlei Luxemburgo, Madrid coach
I'm delighted with the way we played. It was a good result but we could
have scored more. Still, it's better than 2-1. I resent the accusation
that Madrid have been lucky recently because we've worked hard and
deserve it. We've done a lot of work on set-pieces in training because
we knew it would be important against a side like Juve. They played as
expected - defensively, waiting to pounce on the break so at times we
defended in numbers. Nedved's loss was a blow to Juve as he is a great
player but you must consider that we lost [Míchel] Salgado too. Looking
ahead, Turin is another game. It will be tough and although we have the
advantage, one thing's sure, the winner will be decided in Italy.
Fabio Capello, Juventus coach
Even though we lost, it's not a bad result. We played some good football
and the only disappointments were the conceded goal and [Walter]
Samuel's chance that hit the woodwork. I don't like the way we defended
the first goal. We must mark every Madrid player at every free-kick.
Nedved is a little bit better now and we missed him when he was taken
off. Before his injury Juventus looked good in attack and [Alessandro]
Del Piero had a great opportunity. We aren't used to playing without
Nedved though and it was difficult for [his replacement] Ruben Olivera
to get up to pace. Madrid played well, but so did we. It's not easy to
play at the Santiago Bernabéu. We must wait to see how Madrid play in
Turin. |
