Nuri Sahin believes Borussia Dortmund struggled against Juventus' plan B following the injury to Andrea Pirlo in the first leg of their Champions League tie.

"I do not want to be disrespectful in any way, but I would have preferred it had Pirlo not gotten injured," Sahin was quoted as saying by Kicker.

"Pirlo's free kicks are superb, his corner kicks are as dangerous as a normal shot on target and he can find space behind the opposition's defence. He is of brutal quality.

"But we had come up with a clear plan on how we were going to fight a team containing Pirlo. And this plan worked superbly until he was forced off.

"Maybe we somehow thought Juventus would not find an answer to our gameplan any more after Pirlo was gone. They had to come up with a solution without Pirlo and that paid off for them.

"Pirlo is a true great, though, and will forever remain a legend."