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Juve project continues after last-16 Champions League exit

Sport
Juventus coach Andrea Pirlo said his project in Turin is still in its early days and will continue despite his side crashing out of the Champions League at the last-16 stage on away goals against 10-man Porto on Tuesday. Juventus won 3-2 after extra time on the night, but were knocked out of the Champions […]

Juventus coach Andrea Pirlo said his project in Turin is still in its early days and will continue despite his side crashing out of the Champions League at the last-16 stage on away goals against 10-man Porto on Tuesday.

Juventus won 3-2 after extra time on the night, but were knocked out of the Champions League at the same stage as last season after a 4-4 aggregate draw.

That was despite playing against 10 men for much of the game after Porto’s Mehdi Taremi was sent off in the 54th minute.

Their failure to reach the quarterfinals was remarkably similar to last season’s away goals exit to Olympique Lyonnais, with manager Maurizio Sarri sacked at the end of the campaign despite winning a ninth-straight Serie A title for Juve.

For all their domestic dominance, Juve have won just two European Cups compared to Italian rivals AC Milan’s seven. Champions League glory is what the club craves, but Pirlo is adamant his journey as coach is just beginning.

“I don’t know if Sarri was sacked for being eliminated from the Champions League,” Pirlo told Sky Sport Italia.

“I am the Juventus manager at the moment and I will work for a larger project, which goes beyond this season.

“This season is only the beginning of this project. We have young players who are growing game after game. The young players have played with desire and self-denial. We cannot say anything to them, they have given their all.”

After falling behind in the first half to a Sergio Oliveira strike, a double from Federico Chiesa, either side of Taremi’s dismissal, seemed to set Juve on their way to victory, but they could not find a crucial third, leaving the sides all square after normal time.

Pirlo’s side continued to press in extra time, but one free-kick, through the wall, from Oliveira condemned Juve to their fate, despite Adrien Rabiot scoring a third for the Italian side soon after.

The blow leaves Juve just Serie A glory to play for — and they trail leaders Inter Milan by 10 points.

“I’m not happy to have to work with full weeks without European games, I preferred to go on in the Champions League,” Pirlo added.

“To forget this elimination will take a few days but then we will have to look forward and try to move up the (Serie A) rankings. We are still in March.”

Meanwhile, Erling Braut Haaland scored twice as Borussia Dortmund held off a late Sevilla fightback to reach the Champions League quarterfinals with a “crazy, amazing” 5-4 aggregate win after a frantic 2-2 second-leg draw on Tuesday.

Haaland, who also netted a double in Dortmund’s 3-2 last 16 first-leg victory, tapped in a first-half opener and scored a retaken penalty after the break behind closed doors at Signal Iduna Park.

“It was a hard game — I’m tired now, but to be in the next round feels very good,” Haaland told Sky.

“It was a crazy game and a crazy, amazing win.”

Sevilla forward Youssef En-Nesyri scored a 69th-minute spot-kick and a last-gasp equaliser, but Dortmund clung on.

“We’re not happy with the result. Truth is, we didn’t have any luck — they had one chance and they scored,” En-Nesyri said.

“We fought until the last minute.”

Haaland, the man of the match, is the competition’s top-scorer this season with 10 goals in six games.

The 20-year-old is the youngest player to reach 20 Champions League goals, in just 14 appearances, breaking the previous mark set by Kylian Mbappe.

“We have been punished by a player (Haaland) who will make his mark on this era,” predicted Sevilla coach Julen Lopetegui.

Although they had lost three of their four previous games, Sevilla dominated the opening exchanges and Dortmund had to withstand intense early pressure before taking the lead against the run of play.— SuperSport