Fresh off his team's victory over Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals, Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri sounded cautious yet confident Thursday as he prepared to face a formidable foe in Barcelona for Europe's premier title.
Allegri warned that although Juve prevailed in Wednesday's draw, it will face "a much more difficult" challenge from Barcelona in the final to be played in Berlin on June 6. "Playing against Barcelona is almost impossible" but after this remarkable season, he maintained, nothing is out of reach for Juve which was not the favourite to win Wednesday's semi-final.
Still, the Turin team took a 3-2 aggregate victory from Wednesday's 1-1 draw with Real Madrid - perhaps shocking themselves as much as their fans.
And that, said Allegri, is a story "to tell our children when we are old".
"I arrived thinking of a fantastic season, but I never thought" the team would do so well, said Allegri.
"I have an extraordinary group of players who have given their very best at the hardest of times," he added.
Juve Chairman John Elkann certainly seemed to think so.
Elkann was in Madrid with his wife and children and waxed enthusiastic after Wednesday's match.
"It was a great game, one of the most beautiful of my life," said Elkann, who is also chairman of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.
Juventus' General Manager Beppe Marotta maintained that anything could happen for his team this season. "Even though we are not as strong as Barcelona, even though predictions in Berlin are not in our favour, we have our chances". But before then, he noted, Juve must still play the Italian Cup final against Lazio, where they can secure the second stage of what would be a treble.
Apart from a penalty, Juve managed to stop Cristiano Ronaldo from scoring any goals and Real's strategy wavered. Allegri said that was when his team pressed home their advantage.
"During half-time, I told the players to remain calm and that's what gave us the result we were aiming for," he said.
"In the second half we made some mistakes and missed other goals because of a wrong choice in the last pass.
"I must congratulate the team - especially considering where we started from".
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