Having lost 2-1 at the Estadio do Dragao in the first leg, Juventus only needed a favourable result in Turin in order to qualify for the next round.
Just like the first leg, Porto started on the front foot by putting pressure on the hosts in the opening stages and finally got the breakthrough from the penalty spot when Sergio Oliveira slotted home on 19 minutes.
Sergio Conceicao’s side completely stifled the attack of Pirlo’s men throughout the first half, but Federico Chiesa handed Juventus a lifeline when he pounced on Cristiano Ronaldo’s pass to equalize four minutes after the break.
The former Fiorentina man leveled matters on aggregate on 63 minutes just few moments after Porto went down to ten men to take the game into extra time.
Sergio got his second goal from a long-range free kick to square things in the second half of extra time and that was enough to kick the Serie A champions out of the competition despite Adrien Rabiot’s swift reaction.
“When you make four big errors over two legs in the Champions League Round of 16, you can get eliminated,” Pirlo told Sky Sport Italia after the game.
“We didn’t get it wrong when Porto were down to 10, as all we could do was try to spread them out by moving the ball side to side and packing the penalty area with bodies. That is how the goals arrived.
“It will take a few days to cancel this game from our minds, but then we must face every game with the right attitude, realise we’re still only in March and have time to climb the Serie A table.”
“We had started well and there was a chance with Alvaro Morata to take the lead immediately. It didn’t go in, there was an error for the penalty, we could’ve conceded a second, but then played the game we should’ve done in the second half, helped also by the extra man.
“I don’t think our starts are a problem. We knew Porto would play like this, the game could change if we scored in the opening minutes. When you concede, then it becomes a completely different match.”
“There are games and games, these things happen in the life of a coach. It’s the first for me, it’s bad, but we have to roll our sleeves up, knowing it’s only March and we have young players who are growing with every match and put the effort in.
“I don’t think we can complain to the players or ask for more, as they gave their all today and it can happen that some players have an off night.”
