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Lichtsteiner rues silly goals

SoccerNews in Serie A 25 Apr 2014

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Stephan Lichtsteiner was disappointed by Juventus’ defensive display in Thursday’s defeat to Benfica in the UEFA Europa League.

Juve must overturn a one-goal deficit if they are to reach the final after suffering a 2-1 loss at the hands of Benfica in the opening leg of their semi-final at the Estadio da Luz.

A priceless away goal from Carlos Tevez – his first goal in Europe since 2009 – was enough to leave the tie evenly poised heading to Juventus Stadium.

However, the Serie A champions were poor defensively by their own lofty standards, shipping two goals in a match for only the second time in 18 fixtures.

Coach Antonio Conte and midfielder Paul Pogba were critical of the side’s defensive performance and Lichtsteiner followed suit, voicing his displeasure at the manner in which they conceded.

“When you lose, it’s never a good result,” the Swiss defender told Sky Sport Italia.

“The important thing was to score here and we had the chance to net a second or third. We didn’t manage it, but those chances leave us confident for the second half.

“Unfortunately we conceded a silly goal after two minutes which was avoidable. On the second goal we were all lined up in defence, but weren’t focused enough and at this level that gets punished.”

Despite leaving Lisbon empty handed, Juve are still well placed to reach the final, which they will host next month.

But Pogba has called for an improved effort from his team-mates if they are to overcome the recently crowned Portuguese champions.

“We need to play the same way we did in the second half, but with more concentration,” the Frenchman said.

“Benfica are very rapid and dangerous on the counter-attack, as we saw tonight. They get into the box very quickly.”

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