Revenge sweet for Capdevila

By Graham Hunter in Turin

RC Deportivo La Coruña full-back Joan Capdevila hailed his side's UEFA Champions League first knockout round victory against Juventus FC, secured by a 1-0 win at the Stadio Delle Alpi, as "revenge" for their elimination at the hands of the Bianconeri last year.

Coach's orders
Juve defeated the Spanish side on their way to the 2003 final and Capdevila reflected: "They did this to us last season but the key thing is that we knew we could win here, we did what the coach ordered us to and we deserved the victory. You can say that was revenge, for sure, but only sporting revenge. Now I think we can dream of winning the tournament."

Long wait
Deportivo's first-ever win in Turin, sealed by Walter Pandiani's solitary strike, was in part the product of coach Javier Irureta outsmarting Marcello Lippi by instructing his players to follow a shrewd tactical plan. "Is this revenge?" asked Irureta. "Yes it is - but not for last year. This is revenge for 1977 when Juventus beat my Athletic Club Bilbao team in the final of the UEFA Cup, so I’ve had to wait a long time."

Camoranesi sadness
Juve's Mauro Camoranesi was in a far less jovial mood. "I'm sad to go out to a team who didn’t come here to win but only came to defend their 1-0 lead," the Italian midfield player said. "Deportivo came here to stop us playing and we were so unlucky that [Alessandro] Del Piero got injured so early."

Del Piero doubt
Del Piero's sixth-minute injury, which led to him leaving the stadium on crutches ahead of the Serie A match against AC Milan on Sunday, was a theme picked up by Lippi. "Sad and sorry is how I feel," the home coach said. "Juventus are not used to being out at this stage of the Champions League.

Wasted chance
"I was worried about the threat of [Juan Carlos] Valerón, which is why we picked Nicola Legrottaglie in the holding midfield position. But in the end the match really only lasted five minutes. Del Piero got injured, we gave away a goal which was the product of a misunderstanding and we wasted a clear chance - that was it."

Molina marvel
José Molina it was who saved that Fabrizio Miccoli potentially game-turning 36th-minute chance with a point-blank stop - but he was modest about his achievement. "All my stops are important to me," said the goalkeeper. "What is more vital is that the team won, we are in the quarter-final and we have won in a very difficult place."

'Weird run'
Molina also played a part in the Spanish side's goal, his long ball falling for Pandiani to score in the 12th minute, and his opposite number, Gianluigi Buffon, was disappointed. "For Juventus this has been a season of letting in strange goals and that was the natural conclusion of this weird run that we are on," he said.

Nedved dismay
It was the moment of confusion between Ciro Ferrara and Paolo Montero which let in Pandiani but the saddest man on the pitch, Pavel Nedved, took a grand view of the two matches. After being suspended for last year's final, Nedved's sorrow at another lost chance was palpable. "Over the two games they have deserved it," he said "They were better than us and tonight we did not do enough. Now I just hope to stay at Juventus long enough to have another go at the Champions League and win it for this club."