Juventus send warning shot

Juventus FC coach Marcello Lippi believed his side's 4-0 victory over Bayer 04 Leverkusen in their rearranged UEFA Champions League second group stage opener in the Delle Alpi stadium in Turin sent a message to the rest of Europe.

'Created problems'
While admitting that a plucky Leverkusen side had "created some problems" Lippi argued that his side had shown how much of a threat they are to any other side nursing ambitions of winning European football's premier club competition.

'A good match'
"[It was] a good match for my team," he said after two goals from David Trezeguet and one apiece from Alessandro del Piero and Igor Tudor had put the seal on a comprehensive win for the Turin giants.

'Very happy'
"I am very glad," he continued. "Leverkusen are a strong team and came into this game on a winning streak. I am very happy above all with the balance of the team."

Watch out Europe
Lippi then paid tribute to the superstar players who give his side such an attacking edge. "The ‘champion’ players made the difference," he said. "Not all our players have the qualities of Del Piero or Trezeguet, but I’d say now that to play against this kind of Juventus is not simple now. Not just for Leverkusen but for any European football team."

Trezeguet thanks team-mates
Sharpshooter Trezeguet, whose two-goal salvo took his tally in this season's competition to eight, also expressed his delight after the game. "The team is more compact [playing 4-4-2] but now we have to play this way in Serie A too," he said. "I have to say thanks to Del Piero because he helped me a lot. I scored two goals but I was only finishing the work of others."

Not satisfied
Unsurprisingly, Lippi's Leverkusen counterpart Klaus Toppmöller was not satisfied with his team's performance. "I’m very unhappy and all the players are too," he said. "On Saturday we will play again and we have to change everything for the match against SV Werder Bremen."

'Juventus played a great match'
Toppmöller admitted that the scheduling of the game for Thursday afternoon after it had been postponed for a second time on Wednesday night was not ideal, but refused to blame this factor for his side's defeat. "We had some problems because yesterday we waited until 22.30[CET] for the decision to play or not to play," he said. "We then travelled for 90 minutes on the bus in the fog to get to our the hotel. But I don’t want to say we lost because of this. I say that Juventus played a great match."

Looking ahead
The Leverkusen coach then signalled his intention for his side to put Thursday's performance behind them and instead look to the future. "We have the chance to improve immediately," he said. "I also hope that for the next Champions League match against [RC Deportivo] La Coruña we can play another kind of match. It is possible to lose a match like  we did today, it happens sometimes. But we must start winning again immediately."