Juventus captain Alessandro Del Piero says his team remain Champions League contenders despite their 1-0 defeat at Deportivo Coruna in the first knockout phase.

"We could and should have done much better. If we want to qualify (for the quarter-finals) we'll have to do much more in the second leg," Del Piero was quoted as saying in Corriere dello Sport on Thursday.

"We can still turn the contest around."

The return leg will be staged at the Stadio delle Alpi on March 9.

Wednesday's result continued Juventus' poor record at the Riazor Stadium, where they have drawn twice and lost twice in the past four seasons.

Del Piero and European Footballer of the Year Pavel Nedved gave below-par performances and Juventus' evening was made worse by a shoulder injury to striker David Trezeguet which is expected to keep him out of the return leg.

Trezeguet's replacement, Fabrizio Miccoli, insisted that it would be a mistake to count Juventus out.

"One-nil was the worst result we could get here, but I believe we can come back," he said. Their disjointed performance, however, raised questions over whether they are capable of repeating last season's run in the competition, when they finished runners-up to AC Milan.

Though currently third in Serie A, six points behind leaders AC Milan, Juventus have struggled against direct title rivals and suffered a humiliating 4-0 defeat to second-placed AS Roma earlier this month.