Atletico Madrid midfielder Tiago has deemed his time at Juventus as ‘the lowest point of my career’.
The 33-year-old Portuguese international joined the Bianconeri in 2007 from Lyon, but flopped after a number of poor performances for the Old Lady following the big-money move.
He has since enjoyed a career renaissance at Atletico becoming an important player under boss Diego Simeone, but still regrets the time he spent in the Serie A.
“It is important for a player to have the confidence of the coach, even more so when you change teams and move to a new country,” Tiago told Sky Sport Italia.
“In Italy, from the beginning, I never felt any confidence from [Claudio] Ranieri. From the first moment between us there was never any connection.
“I was at Juve, but I wanted to go away. I lost a year, I wanted to prove myself through hard work. I went back to see things in a positive light, showing the coach I could do well.
“Since then, things have changed and improved. It was the lowest point in my career, but I learnt a lot from that year.
“I also suffered a lot of criticism and pressure from the media, as I was the most expensive acquisition by Juventus in that year.”
