Last night, Juventus hosted Villarreal for the second leg of the Champions League round of 16.

Despite a promising start to the match, Juventus paid a hefty price for failing to capitalize on their earlier chances.

The Bianconeri came close to scoring in the first half, with Dusan Vlahovic hitting the crossbar on one occasion.

However, the performance of Max Allegri’s men regressed with the match, and eventually, Unai Emery’s tactical tweaks prompted a late Spanish onslaught.

The Yellow Submarines scored thrice in the final 12 minutes, knocking out the shell-shocked Italians.

For Alessandro Del Piero, this was a story of two halves. The Juventus icon explains how on nights like these, a few centimeters can make all the difference, pointing out to Vlahovic’s strike, and to Villarreal’s first spot kick, when Wojciech Szczesny put a hand to the ball.

However, the retired striker feels that the Bianconeri stars lost some of their steam following the first half.

“I saw a good first half, Juventus were in possession, they closed the spaces well, and Villarreal only had a couple of counter-attacks and that’s it,” said the former captain during his appearance on Sky Sport via ilBianconero.

“Then in the second half, a sort of energy disappeared. Maybe it’s one of those nights when a centimeter is enough. The crossbar, Szczesny touching ball, the second goal with a spiked ball..

“But Juventus lacked ideas in the second half. They didn’t risk in one-on-one situations, never playing a vertical ball for the attackers. If you want to create something, you have to make the ball spin much faster.” concluded Del Piero.