Juventus defender Andrea Barzagli believes Tottenham Hotspur’s inexperience at Champions League level showed on Wednesday night at Wembley.
Heung-Min Son gave Tottenham the aggregate lead with a first half strike, but two goals in the space of three minutes from Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala put Juventus through to the quarter-finals of the competition 4-3 on aggregate.
Barzagli admits that Tottenham showed great quality and did put Juventus under pressure but feels the Italian champions showed their mettle when they needed to in the tie.
The Juventus centre-back also of the opinion that Tottenham did become nervy when Higuain equalised and the difference between the two teams’ experience at the top level eventually decided the game for the Italian champions.
Speaking to RMC Sport, the defender said: “We were a goal down, Tottenham pushed us hard, pressed us and showed quality.
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“But then at the end when it got tough we came out. Of course Tottenham became more circumspect at 1-1.
“I think it’s due to their inexperience and our experience also showed, when we defended the box immediately after getting 2-1 ahead.”
Mauricio Pochettino has defended his team from the charge of inexperience and believes his side dominated the game, while Juventus scored two goals from the three opportunities they created.
