Luciano Spalletti has called on his Juventus side to be “solider than we have been” ahead of the second leg of the Champions League play-off against Galatasaray.
Despite leading 2-1 at half-time in the first leg, the Bianconeri lost 5-2 in Turkiye after substitute Juan Cabal was shown a red card.
That first leg defeat was only the second time they had conceded five or more goals in a match in a major European competition, following a 7-0 defeat to Wiener Sport-Club in the 1958/59 European Cup.
Before this season, there have been 49 occasions when a team has lost the first leg of a Champions League knockout stage tie by at least three goals.
Only four of them have advanced to the next round: Deportivo de La Coruna (2003-04 against AC Milan), Barcelona (2016-17 against Paris Saint-Germain), Roma (2017-18 against Barcelona) and Liverpool (2018-19 against Barcelona).
Spalletti is hopeful Juventus can join that exclusive group at the Allianz Stadium on Wednesday, but insists they will need the full support of the fans.
“Some games are not only played, but also composed,” says Spalletti.
“It requires the involvement and participation of the entire environment, and we need the spirit of our fans.
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“We know it is a delicate situation, but we ask them to be by our side tomorrow. With them by our side we are stronger.
“We must be more solid than we have been. We know our value, we must be united and compact.
“We are hammering on this house with the boys. We have to show that what we are now is not what we have shown.”
“We have reset and we are ready to play the game at our best level. Difficult times don’t take away your value, they force you to show it.”
“We will not live a dream, we will live a situation that we have earned. We will have to go for it and remember all the efforts we have made to be at this level. It is a reward for what we have done to get here.”
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