Ronaldo Not Enough for 'Cursed' Juventus

Juventus coach Maurizio Sarri said he was "bitter" as the Italian giants bumped out of the Champions League on Friday to Lyon despite a Cristiano Ronaldo double giving the hosts a 2-1 win over the French club on the night.

Captain Memphis Depay's 12th-minute penalty, though, sealed Lyon's quarter-final berth with an aggregate score of 2-2 to go around the goals.

After taking the first leg in February, Lyon will face Manchester City at the final tournament in Lisbon.

"I am very bitter, I understand how much this competition is cursed for Juve," said Sarri, who took over as coach last summer.

The Turin side have won the tournament twice, but not since 1996.

They have been runners-up seven times, including twice in the last five years.

Sarri 's team had come off a difficult fight to claim Italy's ninth straight league title against an adversary who was fresh since Ligue 1 was canceled five months earlier due to coronavirus.

"The regret is to have missed the first half in Lyon. At this level it costs," continued Sarri of the first leg played back in February.

"They had a much more logical preparation than ours.

"I'm going home sad because we are beaten, but tonight we had a good game.

"We were immediately behind with a penalty which for me is crazy, much more than questionable.

"But they gave everything and fought to the end. Juve had a good game and Lyon suffered a lot."

"If I weren't devastated by the elimination, I would be happy with tonight's performance, because we brought out so much energy and the team responded with character and showed that they have recovered in the last few days."

Depay's penalty put Rudi Garcia 's side two goals ahead of him in the tie and left Juve with a mountain to climb.

Needing to score three unanswered goals to get through, Ronaldo tried his best to drag the Italian champions across the line.

He leveled the scores throughout the night with a strike of his own, with two minutes remaining in the first period before the second home crashed on the hour mark.

Lyon managed to hang on to a clash with Pep Guardiola City, the 13-time Real Madrid champion, on 15 August.

"Ronaldo is a pillar of Juventus," said Juventus president Andrea Agnelli.

"In the Champions League it's disappointing because we had a dream.

"We will take a few days to evaluate the season."