The Guangzhou Evergrande coach was not impressed with
his former team's form in Europe, while he feels AC Milan could go on
to surprise
Former Italy boss Marcello Lippi has criticised Juventus' performances in the Champions League this season and feels the Serie A champions simply did not do enough in Europe.
The Bianconeri crashed out of European club football's elite competition on Wednesday afternoon following a 1-0 defeat against Galatasaray and Lippi has insisted that their group stage exit can only be described as a failure.
"One must admit that Juventus have been a huge disappointment. Like [Antonio] Conte already said, they did not fail to qualify due to the match in Istanbul, but because of their poor performances in the first two games," Lippi told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
"Juventus are worthy of at least a quarter-final spot rather than playing in the Europa League. I know a lot of their players and I know how angry they will be now. The Juve players will feel they are better than Galatasaray and they are right.
"Juventus' exit is a big failure, but I'm sure they will be challengers again in Europe within a few years."
Lippi then went on to discuss AC Milan's chances in the round of 16 and stated that they might have a chance of reaching the quarter-finals.
"A lot of things can change in a week, let alone what could happen in two months. They have won time by making it out of their group.
"Giampaolo Pazzini and Stephan El Shaarawy will return and then there's the arrival of a good defender like Adil Rami. Kaka can grow into his role as the team's leader, too. They have time to grow."
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