'Wrong decision' concerns Denoueix

By Graham Hunter in Turin

Real Sociedad de Fútbol coach Raynald Denoueix was left reflecting on a tactical change that went wrong after his side went down 4-2 against Juventus FC at the Stadio Delle Alpi.

Packed midfield
Denoueix opted to leave attacking duo Nihat Kahveci and Javier De Pedro on the substitutes' bench and change his formation to 4-5-1 as he packed the midfield. However, Juventus coach Marcello Lippi, whose side conceded two careless goals against Ancona Calcio at the weekend, instructed his side to press their opponents in the early exchanges and the positive approach was thoroughly vindicated as the home side led 2-0 after just seven minutes.

Four-goal cushion
By the time Nihat - Real's leading scorer last season - and De Pedro were introduced, Juventus had already established a four-goal cushion, with David Trezeguet and Marco Di Vaio both scoring twice. However, two goals for the visitors left the Spanish side reflecting on what might have been, with Denoueix admitting after the game that he had been out-thought by Lippi.

'Wrong decision'
"I had many reasons for not playing Nihat and the most important is the fact that we have so many important games in succession," the Real coach said. "But looking at the final result, perhaps it was the wrong decision to leave him out.

'Bad combination'
"It seemed that Juventus 'exploded' after the first whistle and that, together with some mistakes we made was a bad combination," Denoueix said. "When you are 2-0 down after seven minutes to Juventus then you have very little chance of getting a result."

Late strikes
Both Real strikes followed the 66th-minute introduction of De Pedro, with Igor Tudor putting through his own goal a minute later before the substitute himself scored with a powerful free-kick ten minutes from time.

'Not our best team'
Real goalkeeper Sander Westerveld said his side had been found wanting by one of the most experienced sides in European football. "We didn't play with our best team and when you do that against one of the best teams in Europe then you are not going to win," he said.

'We could have drawn'
"I think that when De Pedro came on he immediately showed his qualities and we scored two goals - but I am not the coach," Westerveld said. "I think that we could definitely have got a draw here but they scored too early and when you go 2-0 down inside seven minutes then your tactical plan gets thrown out the window."

'We had to disturb them'
Juventus's Stephan Appiah said the Italian side were instructed to pressurise the visitors from the first whistle. "The coach told us to get out and put them in difficulties as quickly as possible," said the Ghanaian midfield player. "We knew we had to disturb them because Real know how to pass the ball - but they get more space to play in Spain than they do when they play Champions League football against Juventus."

'Swept everything aside'
Although the result took Juventus clear at the top of Group D with a maximum nine points, Lippi refused to get overexcited ahead of the return match in Spain. "I think this team could make our life difficult in the next match," the Juventus coach said. "But I saw many positive things from my team and the result was never in doubt. Sometimes we sweep everything aside."