Galatasaray coach Roberto Mancini agreed with Juventus counterpart Antonio Conte that Wednesday’s rescheduled UEFA Champions League clash between the clubsshould not have taken place, as blizzard-like conditions made the game dangerous for the players. Originally called off after 31 minutes due to bad weather on Tuesday, the conditions forWednesday’s restarted match worsened considerably as time went on, yet Galatasaray midfielder Wesley Sneijder still managed to pounce in the 85th minute to send his team throughto the Round of 16 at Juve’s expense.
“It was difficult to play soccer in these circumstances and I said beforehand it was dangerous for the players, so perhaps better not to play,”Gala’s Mancini told Sky Sport Italia. “Last night (Tuesday) was practically impossible, as a sheet of ice had formed over the field and nobody wanted to continue. I told the UEFAdelegate that in my view it wasn’t right to play today either.” Mancini went on to describe the game as a “lottery” due to the conditions, adding that his team perhaps deserved towin for being the more aggressive of the two.
Juve’s Conte agreed. “At halftime, I reiterated to the referee that it was not safe to play in these conditions,” he said.“[Gala striker] Didier Drogba said it was the same thing for both teams, but I pointed out it wasn’t, because we were trying to play soccer. I have to praise the lads, as theygave their all in a situation where we were enormously penalized, as the game resorted to a soccer brawl.” He added that in the end, his team’s mistake was to get to the last game needing aresult. “We couldn’t have predicted these circumstances, so in my view our exit is unfair, but we also made life difficult for ourselves.”