We knew there would be difficulties: Coach Allegri reflects on Juve’s hard fought victory against Sporting Lisbon

Lisbon [Portugal] April 21 (ANI): Juventus’s fortune has turned in their favor once again as they edged past a resilient Sporting Lisbon team to seal their place in the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League on Friday.

Even though the game ended in a draw 1-1, Juventus moved on to the next round as they had a better score on the aggregate [2-1]. The Portuguese side had already defied the odds once as they defeated Premier League leaders Arsenal in the Round of 16 by [5-3] on aggregate. Lisbon has pulled off some incredible performances at their home stadium.

Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri’s men knew it won’t be an easy battle for them, however, their defense held on and they managed to walk away with a victory.

“We knew how to suffer, but also while creating chances, especially in the second half. We knew there would be difficulties, but we bring home a good result on a day on which we saw our 15 points returned. Now in the league, we have to recover, to cement ourselves in the top four. Today everyone played a good game, the three in midfield did very well. Now we face Sevilla, a good team who play well and have won this competition many times,” Massimiliano Allegri after the match as quoted by Juventus FC.

Aiden Rabiot scored in the 9th minute to hand Juventus an advantage in the early moments of the game. Marcus Edwards brought the game back to parity in the 20th minute following a penalty.

As Juve continues to progress in the European competition, their position in the league has undergone many changes. In January they suffered a 15-point deduction due to the club’s past transfer dealings spanning two years from 2019 to 2021. But after appealing against the decision, the 15-point ban has been temporarily lifted. This has changed the scenario of the Serie A table as Juve jumped right into the third spot with 59 points.

Juventus will be back in action on Monday against Napoli, while their next opponent in the UEL semi-final will be Sevilla.