• Juventus’ back-up goalkeeper has lighthearted dig at old rivals • ‘Where others crumble, we manage to get out on top’

Wojciech Szczesny made the point that “where others crumble” Juventus found a way to win, as the former Arsenal goalkeeper aimed a few lighthearted digs at Tottenham Hotspur.

The Pole was an unused substitute in Juventus’s Champions League victory over Spurs at Wembley on Wednesday and it is fair to say he enjoyed himself after the second-half goals from Gonzalo Higuaín and Paulo Dybala turned the last-16 tie in his team’s favour.

“I enjoyed it a lot,” Szczesny said. “There were a couple [of Tottenham] fans – very vocal – next to my bench, who went missing after the 80th minute, so yeah, I enjoyed it. Plus winning at Wembley is always special.”

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Szczesny, who joined Juventus from Arsenal in a £10m deal last summer, made the “chin up” gesture to Tottenham supporters as he walked towards the tunnel after the game and uploaded a celebratory picture to his Instagram account. “Great win and celebrations vs one of the best teams in north London?” he wrote. “Forza Juve! #northlondonisred.”

The 27-year-old, who has kept 12 clean sheets in 16 starts in all competitions for Juventus, was diplomatic when asked about Arsenal. “I’m focused on my job at Juventus,” he said. “I still love Arsenal, I love the people and I wish them the best but to judge the situation is not appropriate.”

Szczesny was more bullish when talking about the battle-hardened mentality at Juventus. “We’ve got players who have won the World Cup,” he said. “They’ve won six league championships in a row and you see that makes a difference in the difficult situations. Where others crumble, we manage to get out on top.

“The players were relaxed throughout because we’ve been through it many times before. Even last weekend against Lazio we didn’t play the best of games and yet we stayed in it and in the 93rd minute, we scored the winner. That sort of belief right until the end gets you through games like Tottenham. The Tottenham people would probably say they were robbed but we deserved it.”