Higuain was Juventus´ biggest Champions League final flop – Di Livio

Gonzalo Higuain was Juventus’ most disappointing player in their Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid, according to Angelo Di Livio.

Madrid romped to a 4-1 victory in Cardiff on Saturday, with Massimiliano Allegri’s side falling apart in a second half that saw them fail to trouble opposing goalkeeper Keylor Navas.

Di Livio won the Champions League with Juve in 1996, the Italian champions having lost five straight finals in their fruitless attempts to win the trophy since then.

And he was unimpressed with the performance of Higuain, who assisted Mario Mandzukic’s spectacular first-half strike, but failed to score himself against his former club Madrid at the conclusion of his first season in Turin after signing from Napoli for €90million.

“Who disappointed me the most? Certainly Higuain,” Di Livio said to Il Mattino.

“I was expecting a lot from Pipita, or at least something more in terms of his technical quality and hunger for goals.

“He gave me a different impression to the others. No one at Juve tried to make a difference and assert their qualities, but Higuain is the one who made the biggest impression on me in a negative way.”

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Di Livio feels Higuain’s display was typical of a Juve team lacking the mentality of their Madrid counterparts.

He continued: “To play at certain levels, you need top players and I think the Bianconeri still lack some players with personality, who can give the team a leap in quality.

“Between the first and second half, there was a collapse. The mental aspect is important and Juve consumed all their energy in the first 45 minutes.

“Then they disappeared. They failed at the most important moment in the second half. The physical aspect, as well as the mental aspect, were a disaster for Juve.”