Juve No 1 Refuses To Blame Wasteful Del Piero
Tuesday 19th February 2002
Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon refused to blame Alessandro del Piero for missing a penalty in the goalless draw against Deportivo La Coruna.
Del Piero went into the game needing just one goal to become the leading scorer in Champions' League history and after 72 minutes, it looked like his chance had come when Cesar uprooted him in the area.
The striker Italy forward stepped up to take the spot-kick but Francisco Molina tipped the ball out for a corner.
And Buffon was quick to praise the Spanish goalkeeper for keeping a clean sheet in the Group D nail-biter. "We should give praise to Molina for the save," he said.
"Del Piero earnt the penalty and wasted it, but he was one of the best players on the pitch and he does not have to say sorry.
"We weren't brilliant but we still had more chances than Deportivo," he concluded.
Juventus coach Marcello Lippi added: "By the end we were playing with five offensively-minded players, but we were just not as dynamic or smart as we have been before.
"It was not a great match and there were lots of mistakes. It was strange that we had those good chances in such a poor game. We didn't play well but created good opportunities in attack, above all with the penalty," he told Uefa's website.
"They may not have had many chances but Deportivo were not simple to play against."
