Lippi laments lost points

Juventus FC coach Marcello Lippi said his side "tried everything" to unlock a watertight RC Deportivo La Coruña defence in their UEFA Champions League Group D encounter at the Delle Alpi stadium, but failed to do so as the Spanish side held out for a goalless draw.

Missed penalty
After David Trezeguet had planted an unchallenged header on to the foot of a Deportivo post and Alessandro del Piero had seen his 74th-minute penalty saved, Lippi knew that his side may not have the nous to score what would have turned out to be a vital goal. "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," he said.

'Not a great match'
There was not much for the crowd to get excited about and Lippi acknowledged that the game was no thriller, saying: "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."

Irureta rejoices
José Molina' sparkling save, which effectively earned Deportivo a share of the spoils, left his coach, Javier Irureta, delighted. "It's a great result for us as we've just stopped one of the strongest sides in the Italian league," he said. "In the last few minutes we may have been outplayed, but in general I think it was a fair result. The pitch did not make it easy to play and we kept Juventus down to just two chances in the second half, Trezeguet's and the penalty."

Dogged Deportivo
With Ulf Kirsten's last-minute goal sealing a point for Bayer 04 Leverkusen against Arsenal FC in the other Group D match, the table is essentially unchanged - now all four teams are level on four points. But Arsenal and dogged Deportivo are at home in two of the three remaining games and will both now hope to progress from what is the tightest of the four second stage groups.

Another meeting
Summing up the visitors' resilience, Lippi added: "They may not have had many chances but Deportivo were not simple to play against." A problem his side must solve before they meet again in Spain next week.