Real Madrid coach Vicente Del Bosque has admitted that Juventus deserved to win their Champions League semi-final tie.
Juve won the second-leg 3-1 to secure a 4-3 aggregate win and earn the right to meet Milan in the first ever all-Italian Champions League final.
“When a team wins over two legs, when they score more goals than you then they deserve victory and all I can say is best wishes to Juventus in the final,” said Del Bosque.
“We had chances right until the end. We fought hard throughout the game but in the end it just wasn’t possible. I don’t think we played a bad game – we were up against a great opponent” added the Real coach.
Real looked tired on the night with Raul and Ronaldo not looking at their sharpest, and their midfield, lacking Claude Makelele, being overrun at times. Luis Figo, whose penalty miss midway through the second-half, could be seen as the turning point of the game, was another to look out of sorts.
“With the games coming so rapidly after each other players do find it hard to recover but you have to accept that – it is part of the game,” Del Bosque said.
Ronaldo, who came on as a substitute early in the second half, admitted he was not fully fit.
“I’m not in the best of condition. I did my best to get back into shape but it didn’t go well for me,” the Brazilian said.
“It was a great semi-final. Juventus played quite well and we had some problems in defence.
“We also had a chance of going through but then Figo missed the penalty and Raul didn’t get the header on target.”
