Pirlo says lacklustre Juventus handed Porto victory ‘on silver platter’
Cristiano Ronaldo’s first game for Juventus in his native Portugal ended in 2-1 defeat as FC Porto out-played the Italians for much of Wednesday’s Champions League last-16, first leg tie.
Such was Juve’s lacklustre performance that coach Andrea Pirlo claimed his team handed victory to their hosts on “a silver platter”.
Iranian striker Mehdi Taremi put Porto ahead after just a minute at Estadio do Dragao following a Rodrigo Bentancur error.
And Mali striker Moussa Marega added a second straight after the break.
But Federico Chiesa pulled a goal back with eight minutes to go to keep Juventus afloat with the second leg in Turin on March 9.
“The approach was wrong from the first minute,” said Pirlo.
“When you concede a goal like this it’s normal that fear sets in, you lack a bit of certainty.
“Porto are good at closing down and after that goal it was much more difficult. We served them the match they wanted on a silver platter.
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“Fortunately we scored an important goal through Chiesa and now we will focus on the return leg.”
It was a below-par performance by Juventus,chasing their third Champions League title and first in 25 years.
Record Champions League goal scorer Ronaldo, 36, drew a blank against a side captained by his Portuguese international teammate Pepe, as the visitors struggled to recover from their early blunder.