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Gerard Pique confident Barcelona can lift itself up from Juventus loss

Juventus comfortably saw out the final stages to register their eighth clean sheet in 10 Champions League games this season.

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The last time a team wasted that many shots was in the 2008 Champions League.

“We have to get ready to compete and I am sure we will do that”.

“Obviously it will be hard, with a special atmosphere, but it is a marvellous stimulus for us. We gave everything we had”.

“It’s nearly unheard of for Barcelona to fail to score over two legs”.

Enrique said: “I will remember what happened in the first half in the Juventus Stadium for a very long time”.

He believes the fact Atleti are not pushing for the La Liga title will allow Simeone to rest his kep players to ensure they are peak condition for Champions League matches.

Wednesday night’s 0-0 draw wasn’t the cause of their demise, but an error-strewn 3-0 first leg defeat that left even Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez too much to do against the team with the best defensive record left in the Champions League.

The results: Quarterfinals: Second leg: Barcelona 0 drew with Juventus 0 (Juventus won 3-0 on aggregate); Monaco 3 (Mbappe 3, Falcao 17, Germain 81) bt Borussia Dortmund 1 (Reus 48) (Monaco won 6-3 on aggregate). “It makes me proud”.

MASSIMILIANO ALLEGRI, Juventus manager, on his side’s growing maturity in continental competition in the last few years.

While Real are champions, the Bianconeri would be confident of once again seeing off a side that they defeated in 2015, particularly as Real’s defence has worsened in the interim.

Losing that match will effectively leave Barca with just the Copa del Rey to play for this season.

Enrique forlornly turned to Paco Alcacer from the bench as the hosts played with four forwards for the final half hour. “They move the ball around so quickly and only a great Juventus could’ve qualified”, Alegri said. With seconds remaining at Camp Nou, Bonucci asked Messi to swap shirts once the final whistle had gone.

The Catalans can not afford another defeat to Real Madrid as they sit in second position in the table, three points behind Los Blancos who still have one game in hand.

Neymar, who led Barcelona with two goals and two assists in the comeback against PSG, was in tears after the game against Juventus.

The likes of Lucas Digne, Andre Gomes and Paco Alcacer merely function to emphasize Barcelona’s inability to replace the likes of Xavi, Pedro, Dani Alves and to offer support for the ageing maestro Andres Iniesta, who unfortunately still remains the single most critical bit of the puzzle for Luis Enrique.

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