Pirlo: These are the games for Ronaldo, defeat taught us a lesson

Two goals in the net of Szczęsny at Dragao three weeks ago significantly made Juventus' job difficult on the way to the quarterfinals of the Champions League, so the Serie A champion will try and make up for a mild performance against the Portuguese team (first leg result 1:2).

That first match confirmed that Porto has something to hope for on the international stage - the Portuguese team managed to make Juventus look pretty inferior. Before the match scheduled for Tuesday at 11 PM, it is not surprising that Andrea Pirlo chose his words about the next game against the tricky rival.

"We need to play technically flawless. We will face a team that plays tight with tight lines. There will be little time and space to think. We will need technique, we must have the patience to make the Porto players move," Pirlo said.

Matthijs de Ligt has returned to the training process after recovering from a recent injury, but he will not be in the protocol tomorrow.

"Everyone is feeling pretty good. De Ligt warmed up with the team this morning, but he trained separately from the group. Everyone else is ready, not everyone is at one hundred percent, but it's good to have them available. Chiellini is feeling good, I think he will be available tomorrow, Arthur could start, McKennie is feeling well even though he still has a little problem with his hip. We know he can't play the whole game and we've been trying to manage him in the best way. He has to get better, he's ambitious and intelligent. He always tries to find the best solutions, he likes to study opponents and that is very good for a player like him ".

The biggest focus will be, without a doubt, on Cristiano Ronaldo, a player who, with his technical abilities and individual quality, can break a rival on his own and bring the advantage, which he is expected to do against the team from his motherland on Tuesday night.

"These are Cristiano's games, he proved it a long time ago. In the last couple of days he has followed a special training program, he is calm and he is looking forward to playing."

Bernardeschi, who was re-assigned to the position of left-back at the initiative of Pirlo, will also play an important role in the ranks of the Old Lady.

"I spoke to Bernardeschi this summer. I met him on holiday and told him I was thinking of letting him play as a left-back, which is a role that suits him and his qualities. He said he was available for it, but we didn't have much time to try him in training. Now he is convinced that he can do it and we will continue. He can start the game tomorrow, but others are a possibility too. "

Juventus totally outplayed by Porto, but Chiesa's late goal gives them hope

Massimiliano Allegri and Maurizio Sarri were fired after being eliminated early from the competition. Pirlo was also asked if he thought he could be the third manager with the same fate if he did not make it past the Portuguese team.

"If I thought so, I wouldn't be here. I know we have an important game ahead of us and the Champions League is an important competition, but I focus on one game at a time. The club will decide my future, depending on the results. I work from day to day, I know my project and the club's project. This match is like a final for us ".

The goal behind is not an impossible mission for the club from Turin, but the experience from the first duel suggests that it will not be easy to get a place among the eight best teams in Europe.

"We have to reverse the result. We watched the first game many times, we planned to play differently. We made a mistake at the beginning of the game and the match changed. We will try to learn from the mistakes we made. We study Porto, we know they can use different systems but we also know that we can qualify to the next phase without underestimating the quality of Porto." said the Italian coach.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - LAST 16 (SECOND LEG)

Tuesday

23.00: Juventus - Porto (first leg 1-2)

23.00: Borussia Dortmund - Sevilla (first leg 3-2)

Wednesday

23.00: Liverpool - RB Leipzig (first leg 2-0)

23.00: PSG - Barcelona (first leg 4-1)