07 August 2020
At the end of the match against Lyon there was bitterness amongst the Bianconeri. The 2-1 win against Lyon was not enough for the team to continue their journey in the Champions League to Lisbon. These are the comments from Mr. Sarri and his players at the end of the match:
MAURIZIO SARRI
“Tonight, we played a great match, the penalty could have driven us out of our minds, but we drew level and then we took the lead, and at 2-1, we created three or four chances. If I weren't morally devastated by the elimination, I would be happy with tonight's performance, because we brought out so much energy and the team responded with character and showed that they have recovered in the last few days. Last week, in the 120 minutes against PSG, Lyon were never in as much trouble as tonight. With all that has happened it was not easy to reach the top at this moment, but I think the team has responded well this evening anyway.”
LEONARDO BONUCCI
“There is disappointment, we expected a match like this, we conceded a goal from a penalty, then we overturned it and created a lot, but football is like this and sometimes you don't reap what you sow. Tonight, we gave everything, we had to do better in Lyon in the first leg. We showed that the conditions were there, creating five clear scoring chances, but we must congratulate them for qualification to the next round. It was an unusual season. The main objective was to win the championship and we did that, then we knew that in the Champions League, with this formula, anything could have happened and that we would have to do everything possible to qualify for Lisbon. We gave our best, but we didn't succeed.”
MIRALEM PJANIC
“We really wanted to get through the shift. We started the game badly, suffering the penalty, but we got back into the game and we are very sorry not to be able to qualify. We paid for the first leg, where we didn't play very well and there is great disappointment, because this club has to aspire for more in Europe. We must not belittle what we have done, because winning is not easy, we have made it seem so in recent years, but certainly in the Champions League, with this squad, this team can and must try to win. However, I am convinced that this group will continue to do well.”
MATTHIJS DE LIGT
"I'm really sorry that we didn't achieve the qualification. We are stronger than Lyon, but in both games we encountered some difficulties. We played well today, but conceding the penalty after just 12 minutes was tough. We are happy to have won the Scudetto, but disappointed for having lost the Coppa Italia final and for today's elimination."
