Juventus coach Fabio Capello was ecstatic after his team overturned a 1-0 deficit to knock Real Madrid out of the Champions League 2-1 on aggregate.
A second half goal from David Trezeguet levelled the tie on aggregate and Uruguayan Marcelo Zalayeta fired home the winner four minutes from the end of extra-time.
“It is never an easy business defeating Real Madrid and so that was a special feeling,” said Capello,
“I think it is the first time I have celebrated like that but now I’ve done it, I’d like to try it again.”
“It was a very tough game for both teams. We played well and gave them very few chances. It was really an excellent performance from us. We gave away little and were also dangerous, which hasn’t always been the case of late,” added the Juve coach.
“It’s a great result for us, to come back from a 1-0 defeat in Madrid and turn it around here was always going to be difficult. But we played with intelligence, spirit and quality.”
Capello singled out Gianluca Pessottowho stoood in for the injured Pavel Nedved on the left and Zalayeta who started in place of Trezeguet.
“They are important players for the team because they work hard and seriously in training so that when they are called upon they are always ready,” he said.
However Capello said that Juve had posed problems for Real with their approach.
“They were up against a team that didn’t let them play as they wanted to. When we got the ball we got it forward as quickly as possible and that is what caused them problems,” he said.
Real coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo said there had been little to choose between the teams.
“It was tight throughout and it was the kind of match that we could have won and gone through,” he said.
Luxemburgo defended his decision to take off Zinedine Zidane late in the second half, leaving Real without their most creative force.
“Zidane had a problem at the start of the game and it got progressively worse but it was a tactical decision,” said Luxemburgo.
