Allegri Hails 'Wonderful' Juventus Performance Despite Crashing Out of UCL Through Late Penalty

Massimiliano Allegri has hailed his Juventus side for their performance during their 3-1 win over Real Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League quarter final, despite crashing out 4-3 on aggregate in the most heartbreaking fashion.

Despite trailing Madrid 3-0 from the first leg, Juventus very nearly completed the impossible mission at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night. 

Two first half goals from Mario Mandzukic and a Blaise Matuidi tap in got Juve to level terms on aggregate with Zinedine Zidane's side and the Bianconeri were dominating Real Madrid in their own stadium.

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However just as the game looked to be heading into extra time, Madrid won a controversial penalty in the 92nd minute after Medhi Benatia bundled Lucas Vazquez in the area. Gianluigi Buffon was sent off for his protests and Cristiano Ronaldo slotted the ball beyond substitute goalkeeper Wojchiech Szczesny to send Zidane's men through to the semi finals.

Speaking, as quoted by the club's official website after the game, Allegri hailed his side's performances over the two legs and especially their fightback in the second leg. 

He said: "We put in a wonderful performance.

"We did the same for an hour back in Turin too, it’s just that the result fooled everyone – but not me. We kept the door shut at the back and played very well tonight – we did really well to turn it around. I was sure we would after having seen our performance in the first leg."

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The Bianconeri will be disappointed having done all the hard work in drawing level on aggregate only for a defensive mistake to send them crashing out of the competition, however Allegri went on to insist his side must learn from the experience. 

He added: "There’s no use crying about it."We’re disappointed but we need to get that out of our system because we’re back in league action on Sunday. Nights like this make you stronger. Tonight was the umpteenth demonstration of how Juventus as a team and as a club have come on leaps and bounds in recent years.

"We produced a similar performance away at Bayern too and sadly it’s not gone our way tonight either. Credit where credit is due – we need to keep moving in this direction. Tonight’s match will definitely provide a big boost and give us the belief that we can go into next year’s Champions League with confidence."

He will now need to regroup his men with Juventus back in action in Serie A on Sunday when they host Sampdoria as they look to take a step closer towards clinching their seventh consecutive league title.