Reds duo reflect on 'special' win in Turin

Jose Mourinho’s men staged a dramatic turnaround in the final five minutes at the Allianz Stadium on Wednesday night. Juan Mata’s sublime free-kick and a Leonardo Bonucci own goal cancelled out former United star Cristiano Ronaldo’s exquisite opener to record another memorable win for United in Turin.

Shaw sensed even before the match that it was going to be a good night for the Reds, and felt the team’s never-say-die attitude merited the three points, against a Juve side who suffered a first home defeat in the group stage of the Champions League since December 2009.

“I think [it] was a very special win, especially with going 1-0 down,” the defender told MUTV, after starting an eighth successive United game for the first time since breaking his leg in 2015.

“We all knew how hard it can be coming here [to the Allianz Stadium] especially going 1-0 down – it’s huge credit for the team for keeping on fighting and never giving up. I felt like we were going to get something out of the game, even before the start of the game.

“Juan [Mata] with his free-kick – I felt like it was going in before he stepped over it and obviously Ashley [Young] with another great delivery at the end. It showed how much the team wanted it, we were fighting for the ball and luckily we got that bit of luck that it went in. I felt it was deserved – we fought until the end.

“At times, we had good possession of the ball, especially in the first half. We’ve had poor first halves recently, I felt tonight was a bit better. Onwards and upwards, especially with another big game on Sunday [at Manchester City], it’s very good momentum now for us to go into that.”

‘IT WAS ABOUT MENTALITY’

Jesse Lingard was also full of praise for the way the Reds approached the game and then responded to Ronaldo’s 65th-minute goal, on a ground where the Italian champions had only lost twice in the Champions League since the Allianz Stadium first opened in 2011.

“It was crazy,” the midfielder told MUTV’s Stewart Gardner. “The attitude of the players, even at 1-0 down, we still went on to win the game and I think that’s the main thing. I think it’s about mentality – a difficult stadium to come to and a difficult team to play against but we were right in our heads and we carried on until the 90th minute.

“I think it’s times like that [when Juventus went ahead] where we have to pull together as a team and stay confident – we did that. We made a few substitutions to get some fresh legs on and I think that helped.”

It was certainly a great occasion for the forward to make his first start since 25 September and Jesse was delighted to play his part in a famous victory, which has given the Reds’ hopes of advancing from Group H into the knockout stage a significant boost.

“I think the Champions League nights are what you live for and these are the games you want to play in, so I was happy to be involved and happy to get the win,” our no.14 said.

“It’s a big, big result. I think if we win the next game [against Young Boys at home] we will be more than comfortable then, so we’ll have our minds on that as well.”

The stunning victory in Turin also provided the perfect tonic for the Reds ahead of Sunday’s tough test against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

“It always adds confidence, winning matches, so we’ll take it into the next game [at City] and we will be even more confident,” Jesse added.

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