Juventus coach Thiago Motta was euphoric upon watching his men complete an astonishing come-from-behind victory over RB Leipzig.
The match appeared to be a lost cause when Michele Di Gregorio’s expulsion was swiftly followed by a spot-kick that gave the German hosts a 2-1 lead.
But despite their numerical disadvantage, the Bianconeri pulled off a comeback for the ages.
Dusan Vlahovic completed his brace with a jaw-dropping strike from long range, while Francisco Conceicao dribbled his way to the box before placing the ball in the bottom corner, igniting wild celebrations on the sidelines.
The Italians then had to survive a late onslaught to escape victorious, overcoming all circumstances, which included two early injuries as well as some dubious refereeing.
After the contest, Motta insisted that his men were already playing well in the first half despite trailing in the scoreline.
“We played well, even in the first half despite the fact that went into the break a goal down,” said the Italo-Brazilian in his post-match interview via the official Juventus website.
“We are very satisfied with the victory and the way we achieved it. We played well. In the second half we played with ten men for a long time, but we didn’t lower our level and that made the difference.
“We tried to go forward, to be proactive, to play good football both in attack and defense, as well as trying to find our wide players in advanced positions.”
The former Bologna boss emphasized the importance of courage in such encounters.
“In the end, we deserved the win, we had the courage to play our game even in a difficult situation after being reduced to 10 men.
“The key word was courage. Courage from the boys who were determined to get forward to cause problems for the opposition. Even with a man down, that was the feeling. We pushed forward and did it well all the way to the end.”