Ex-Italy star slams ‘mentally dead’ Juventus in ‘deserved’ PSV defeat | OneFootball

Former Fiorentina and Italy star Luca Toni criticised Juventus for their poor performance in the second leg of their Champions League knockout play-off against PSV Eindhoven, describing them as ‘mentally dead’.

The Bianconeri suffered a 3-1 defeat, allowing the Eredivisie giants to overturn a one-goal deficit from the first leg and progress to the Champions League last 16 at the expense of the Old Lady.

Thiago Motta’s side appeared capable of putting up a fight in the Netherlands, at least until Timothy Weah scored a second-half equalizer.

epa11908472 Renato Veiga of Juventus FC leaves the pitch du to injury during the UEFA Champions League knockout phase play-offs 2nd leg soccer match between PSV Eindhoven and Juventus FC in Eindhoven, Netherlands, 19 February 2025. EPA-EFE/KOEN VAN WEEL

However, they ultimately failed to withstand the hosts’ pressure in the final stretch of the 90 minutes and throughout extra time, with Toni remarking that they lacked ‘anger’ and ‘determination’, as they were completely outplayed by Peter Bosz’s side ‘physically’ and ‘athletically’.

Toni: Juventus’ approach completely wrong, PSV dominated and deserved

“I saw a team that was mentally dead, except for Vlahović’s shot off the post, which could have changed everything,” Toni told Amazon Prime Video after the match.

“Usually, Juve don’t get important games wrong, but they got their approach completely wrong this time. I didn’t see the anger or the determination that was needed.

epa11908638 Timothy Weah of Juventus FC celebrates the 1-1 during the UEFA Champions League knockout phase play-offs 2nd leg soccer match between PSV Eindhoven and Juventus FC in Eindhoven, Netherlands, 19 February 2025. EPA-EFE/SEM VAN DER WAL

“PSV dominated physically and were twice as fast athletically. In my opinion, there was a lack of players who could step up and lead the team.

“One of the best on the pitch was Di Gregorio, and PSV absolutely deserved to go through.”

Juventus suffered three of their five seasonal defeats in the Champions League, with the remaining two losses occurring in the Supercoppa Italiana and in a Serie A clash at Napoli.