PORTO • Juventus coach Andrea Pirlo was left frustrated that his side gifted Porto an early lead, as the Italian champions fell to a 2-1 defeat in their Champions League last-16 first-leg match on Wednesday.
Mehdi Taremi put the Portuguese champions in front after 63 seconds when Rodrigo Bentancur misjudged a back pass to set up the Iran striker for a simple finish from close range.
"We prepared for the game well, differently from how it was during the match," Pirlo told Sky Sport Italia.
"That wasn't the attitude that we wanted to impose, but when you go down a goal after a minute it gets harder.
"We knew that they close up the spaces very well, it was the match that they wanted to play, and we handed it to them on a silver platter."
Moussa Marega added a second for the hosts 23 seconds into the second half before Federico Chiesa struck late to earn Juventus a precious away goal, but it was a disappointing performance from Juve.
"The approach went wrong after the first minute. When you concede a goal like that, it's normal that you get a little afraid, you lose the confidence that you should never lack in a last-16 tie," added the former Juventus midfielder.
Juve are chasing their first Champions League trophy in 25 years but it has been a difficult season for the Old Lady and rookie coach Pirlo.
Their hopes of a 10th successive Scudetto are in peril as they lie eight points behind Serie A leaders Inter Milan (50). Having been eliminated in either the first knockout round or quarter-finals of the Champions League in the past three years, there are question marks over the team's mentality in the biggest games.
Record Champions League goalscorer Ronaldo, 36, drew a blank against a side captained by his Portugal teammate Pepe and was well-marshalled, and the visitors never seemed to recover from their early blunder.
"We studied Juventus well," said the defender, who won three Champions League titles with Ronaldo at Real Madrid.
"In these type of games, it's difficult to concede goals at home but we played a great game."
Porto coach Sergio Conceicao oversaw an impressive defensive display from his side, despite Chiesa's goal ending a run of five consecutive clean sheets in the Champions League.
But he will not send his team to Italy simply to hold on to their slender advantage in the second leg in Turin on March 9.
"We need to be rigorous defensively, it'll be a different game," Conceicao said.
"Juve need to come back but that doesn't mean we will go there just to defend. We'll see who will play, if the characteristics of the players are different."
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS
