Ferrara pained by CL exit

Juve boss hurting as Bayern tactician hails his charges

By Elliot Ball   Last updated: 9th December 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Ferrara pained by CL exit

Olic: Silenced the Turin faithful

We always tried to go forward with conviction and maybe this was simply too much for Juve

Louis Van Gaal
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Juventus manager Ciro Ferrara insists his side have no excuses for being dumped out of the UEFA Champions League.

The Italian giants needed just a point to reach the next phase of the competition in Tuesday's clash with Bayern Munich and they made the ideal start to the game at the Stadio Olimpico when David Trezeguet opened the scoring in the 11th minute.

But the Bianconeri were powerless to halt a German fightback as Bayern romped to a 4-1 success to book their place in the last 16 at the expense of the Turin outfit.

And Ferrara admitted his team only had themselves to blame for the failure to qualify for the knock-out stages.

"It's a huge disappointment not only for myself but for the players and for the fans," said the Juve boss, whose side now face the prospect of the Europa League after ending up third in Group A. "To leave this competition hurts.

"But in the last two games of the Champions League we have taken zero points."

Brilliant

The outcome marked Juve's second slip in this year's competition after their 2-0 defeat at Bordeaux last month, while it brought to an end a run of 16 home European games without defeat.

Bayern, meanwhile, have now won four games in a row thanks to goals from Hans-Jorg Butt, Ivica Olic, Mario Gomez and Anatoliy Tymoschuk.

And their midweek heroics may keep the much-maligned Louis van Gaal in his job, with the Dutchman delighted with his side's performance in Turin.

"You could say that Juventus played terribly but you could also say that we played brilliantly," said the Dutch manager, whose team finished second in the group behind French champions Bordeaux.

"We were well organised in the middle, we held onto the ball well and we always tried to go forward with conviction and maybe this was simply too much for Juve."