TURIN (Italy), April 9: A throwaway jibe against goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon is spurring Juventus as they bid to make club history by overcoming a 2-0 first-leg deficit to Bayern Munich in their Champions League quarter-final in Wednesday’s second-leg.

Juventus qualified for the last eight of Europe’s premier club competition last month for the first time since 2006 but the draw was not kind to the Old Lady of Turin.Bayern, who secured their 23rd German league title on Saturday, were a class above the Bianconeri in Munich and Juve were lucky to escape Munich only 2-0 down with David Alaba and Thomas Mueller scoring.

Alaba’s long-range effort after just 25 seconds took a slight deflection on its way to goal, spectacularly wrongfooting Buffon and prompting the German club’s honorary president Franz Beckenbauer to compare the 35-year-old veteran to a “pensioner”.

Juve defender Leonardo Bonucci told Sky Sport Italia in somewhat more diplomatic terms: “We respect his opinion, but this will only serve to motivate both Gigi [Buffon] and Juventus. We want a semi-final place and we’re going out there to give 100 percent.”

On Tuesday, Buffon went from a bumbling pensioner to goalkeeping great in the eyes of Bayern as the Bavarians attempted to make up for last week’s gaffe.

“Buffon is part of footballing history,” Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes, possibly trying to build bridges, said. “He is a legend for me, a fantastic man and an excellent goalkeeper. I was really touched when he stayed with Juventus in Serie B [following a match-fixing scandal in 2006] and I liked that a lot.”

Although Italian media has largely played up Beckenbauer’s jibe at Buffon — to the point that Juve striker Mirko Vucinic was quoted as saying the second-leg would be “war” — Heynckes was quick to put things into perspective.

“I’m sure what he really meant was that Juve will give it everything but it’s not the best language to describe what is, after all, a game of football.”

Juventus, who won Serie A unbeaten in Antonio Conte’s first season, usually unsettle their opponents with high-tempo pressing and aggressive attacking but got a taste of their own medicine in Munich. If successful, Juventus would create a small piece of history — the Bianconeri have never managed to overturn a two-goal deficit.

“We have to believe in ourselves, otherwise we start already beaten,” midfielder Emanuele Giaccherini said. “They have won the championship, they have a two-goal advantage and they are one of the strongest teams in the world, but we will give everything and try to overturn the result.”—Agencies