I could hardly sleep and even when I did drop off, I awoke to a grim thought: I’m disgusting. I can’t play anymore. Furthermore, I went to bed with Dude and all his Liverpool team-mates.

— Andrea Pirlo

I’ll never fully shake that sense of absolute impotence when destiny is at work. The feeling will cling to my feet forever, trying to pull me down. Even now if I mess up a pass, that malign force could be to blame. For that reason, I steer well clear of the DVD from the Liverpool game.

— Andrea Pirlo