Juventus Boss Pirlo Insists He Does Not Fear The Axe After Champions League Exit

Andrea Pirlo insisted he would not have done anything differently after Juventus crashed out to 10-man Porto in the Champions League.

The Portuguese side booked their place in the quarter-finals on away goals after a 4-4 aggregate draw despite losing 3-2 to the Italians following extra time in a thrilling clash that went to the wire on Tuesday.

Sergio Oliveira’s low free-kick for Porto’s second goal in the extra period went through the legs of Cristiano Ronaldo in the Juve wall and squeezed past goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny’s despairing dive to strike what proved to be the decisive blow.

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Pirlo insisted he was not worried about his future despite former boss Maurizio Sarri being sacked for not getting past the round of 16.

He told Sky Sport Italia: ‘I don’t know why Sarri was removed. I am the coach of Juventus, I was brought in for a more ample approach, a project that was always meant to develop over several years, so I am not concerned.

‘I am not happy to be working with a full week, as I’d have preferred to stay in the Champions League.

‘Now that we’re in this situation, we can work on various aspects in training, which we haven’t had time to do so far this season, and try to improve on those.’

The Italian giants suffered another painful exit after defeats to Ajax and Lyon in the past two seasons.

Pirlo added: ‘When you make four big errors over two legs in the Champions League Round of 16, you can get eliminated.

‘We didn’t get it wrong when Porto were down to 10, as all we could do was try to spread them out by moving the ball side to side and packing the penalty area with bodies. That is how the goals arrived.’