Juventus director Beppe Marotta has blamed the officials for rendering an Alvaro Morata's goal off-side against Bayern Munich as the Italian football champions exited the European Champions League.
The Bianconeri on Wednesday had been 2-0 up at the Allianz Arena, but were pegged back to 2-2 in stoppages and capitulated 4-2 in extra time. They lost 6-4 on aggregate.
"Errors at this level are costly," Marotta was quoted as saying by italia-football.net.
"The Alvaro Morata disallowed goal would've changed the face of the match. Certain errors at this level are costly, they make a big difference," he added.
"I am not here to seek alibis, but I hope that in future Italian football is better protected. Certain refereeing performances are painful."
However, the director is happy with his side's performance. Juventus' goals came from Paul Pogba and Juan Cuadrado inside 28 minutes and they were leading 2-1 till Thomas Muller's equaliser came in the 91st minute, taking the contest to the extra-time. Kingsley Coman and Thiago Alcantara scored in the 108th and 109th minutes to make it 4-2.
"I want to underline the great performance from the lads and the credit goes to our Coach. We must also remember the quality of Bayern.," Marotta reflected.
"We almost achieved something remarkable, it's a shame because it was a minute and a half from the end."
The director wants his team to put focus back on Serie A where they are leading by three points against Napoli.
"Now we have to cancel out this memory, turn the page and think of Sunday's derby against Torino. We want to do well, especially as the Serie A race is still open," he said.
