The Italian has been blown away by the performances of the Bundesliga giants in Europe this season and feels that we might be seeing the start of a new era of German dominance
Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini has described Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund as “Martians” on account of the sides’ extraterrestrial performances in this season’s Champions League.
Having swept the Bianconeri aside in the quarter-finals, die Roten hammered Barcelona 4-0 in the first leg of their last-four encounter on Tuesday night, while their Bundesliga rivals were just as impressive in winning 4-1 against Real Madrid the following evening.
Chiellini was left in awe by the performances of the German duo although, as he explained at a press conference on Thursday, he had already witnessed first-hand just how awesome a side Bayern have become.
“Our performance against the Bavarians has to be re-evaluated a little bit,” the versatile defender argued to gathered media, alluding to his side’s 4-0 aggregate loss to Jupp Heynckes’ men.
“Bayern and Borussia are two Martians! In addition to their technical qualities, they are playing with an incredible intensity; they don’t let you breathe.
“In my opinion, the two games against Bayern gave me the idea that they were nearly invincible and now I know it.
“When I saw them on the field they seemed a step ahead of everyone, and that’s how it was [against Barcelona].
“To say, though, that the Germans are about to start a cycle [of dominance], well, we must wait for the return legs, even though, in theory, there has already been a change at European level.
“Nobody thought at the start of the season that there would be too German teams in the final.”
Even though Juve came off a clear second best against Bayern, Chiellini believes that Antonio Conte’s troops can take enormous pride out of their European campaign.
“We were handed the worst possible draw, against a Bayern side whom could and did give us difficulty,” he mused. “We put on a good show and did create some chances, but they fully deserved to go through.
“However, the initial disappointment of going out has gone, and now there’s the awareness of the important progress we’ve made.
“We wouldn’t ever have the possibility of purchasing a world class player. I think it would be impossible for any Italian club to pay the figure that Cristiano Ronaldo commanded, for example.
“Borussia set out on a different path, picking up youngsters from youth academies for relatively low fees and moulding them into a team over the past three-to-four years.
“You can only congratulate the club and its coach [Jurgen Klopp] on their achievements. They’ve created a team that’s gone to the top in Europe.
“I’d say their journey is slightly similar to ours, and that’s why we hope to emulate them soon.”
For now, though, Chiellini is just targeting a win in Sunday’s Serie A derby against city rivals Torino that would edge them ever closer to a second successive Scudetto.
“We should be happy with what we’ve done this season,” he added. “If I had predicted a season like this in the summer I would have been happy. Now we’ll aim to wrap up the Scudetto as soon as possible.”
Juve go into the weekend 11 points clear of second-placed Napoli, who face struggling Pescara on Saturday. If the Partenopei lose that clash and Conte’s men win then the Bianconeri will be crowned as champions.