Nedved And Del Piero Were Key To Win Says Juve's Lippi
TURIN, Italy, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Juventus coach Marcello Lippi picked out Alessandro Del Piero and Pavel Nedved for praise after they inspired the Turin side to a 3-1 win over Porto in Group E of the Champions League on Tuesday.
The victory, which came thanks to goals from Del Piero, Paolo Montero and David Trezeguet after Porto had taken an early lead, books Juve's place in the second phase of the competition.
Clayton Cruz's 13th minute opener knocked Juve out of their stride but Del Piero pulled them level with a trademark curling free-kick in the 32nd minute.
'I thought we started very positively but the goal affected us and we started to make mistakes,' Lippi told reporters.
'But then after Del Piero's goal we refound ourselves and I was very pleased with our performance from then on,' added the Juve coach.
'Del Piero showed he is vital for this squad. He showed his class tonight and not only with the goal. In every game he does something special, something important.'
As well as Del Piero's skill from set pieces, his corner led to Juve's second goal headed in by Montero.
Lippi said the contribution of Czech midfielder Nedved had also been essential.
'I was particularly pleased also with Nedved. He brings a real passion to the side and such a determination.
'He was firing in the shots and making aggressive runs throughout and he makes intelligent use of the ball. He is very, very important for us,' said Lippi.
Juve have failed to win in their last four Serie A games and face a big game against Inter Milan on Saturday and while happy with the showing against Porto, Lippi believes the team's development is not yet complete.
'There is still a lot of work to do, a lot of things to improve. In Serie A we need to get moving up the league and we will have more tough games to come in Europe. But I was very satisfied with the work we put in tonight.'
Porto, second in the group, must win at home to Rosenborg Trondheim in their final game and coach Octavio Machado said that task should not be underestimated.
'We still have a chance of course but it will be difficult for us against Rosenborg.
'We must take each game as it comes now. We were good in the first 20 minutes here but we lost concentration and started to give the ball away. That was the key to this match and we must learn that lesson,' said the Porto boss.
