Serie A

Del Piero: ‘Huge gap’ between Juventus and PSV

February 20, 2025

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Del Piero: ‘Huge gap’ between Juventus and PSV

Italy and Juventus legend Alessandro Del Piero on punditry duty during EURO 2024. (Del Piero: ‘I’m really happy for you, Kenan’ – Yildiz breaks 19-year-old record)

Juventus legend Alessandro Del Piero saw a ‘huge gap’ between the Bianconeri and PSV, especially in terms of ‘quality of passes, intensity, and desire.’

Juventus suffered a 3-1 loss against PSV on Wednesday and became the fourth Serie A club eliminated from the Champions League. The Bianconeri were knocked out with a 4-3 aggregate defeat.

Their legend Alessandro Del Piero analysed the performance on Sky Sport Italia.

“There was a huge gap. Although Juve played very well in the first half with personality, there was a big difference in the quality of passes, intensity, and desire with which they went looking for the goal.”

Juventus captain Manuel Locatelli also felt PSV showed more desire than the Old Lady, but Thiago Motta had a different view and insisted the Bianconeri did their best to qualify.

Del Piero: big ‘gap’ between Juventus and PSV

epa11908713 Ryan Flamingo of PSV Eindhoven scores the 3-1 lead during the UEFA Champions League knockout phase play-offs 2nd leg soccer match between PSV Eindhoven and Juventus FC in Eindhoven, Netherlands, 19 February 2025. EPA-EFE/KOEN VAN WEEL

“Vlahovic hitting the post was a bit unlucky, and even after the 2-1, but these things happen when you push for them,” continued Del Piero.

“PSV brought in too much quality and too many dangerous plays. There were many saves from Di Gregorio, and their attackers sometimes lacked precision. The gap was significant.

“In the second half of extra time, Juve pushed forward because the others tried to defend. That’s the biggest disappointment.”

Del Piero also saw a difference in the attitude and experience of the two teams.

“Juventus have a young team that hasn’t played many matches at the international level. Of course, they lack a bit of experience. Their opponents have a different footballing culture in the Netherlands than ours.

“The fact is they never stopped because of certain incidents in the game while we still tend to live and react too much, both positively and negatively, to those incidents.”

Juventus elimination means Inter remain the only Serie A club in the Champions League this season.

The Nerazzurri qualified for the Round of 16 by finishing the league phase in the top eight. Bologna were eliminated in the opening stage of the tournament, while Juventus and Milan didn’t make it past the playoffs.