Juventus 2-1 Borussia Dortmund
Scorers: Tevez 13 (J), Reus 19 (B), Morata 43 (J)
Champions League – Last 16 – First Leg [Tuesday, 24th February – 19:45 GMT] – Juventus Stadium
What a game! That was everything you want from the Champions League, two evenly matched teams, two good coaches, and 90 minutes of back and forth fighting. Best of all, Juventus won 2-1. Of course, we still have the return leg in Dortmund, so anything can happen. That said it was a fine win for Juventus and even more so, a big step forward for the project. While Juventus dominate in Italy, our stature in Europe has still not recovered from Calciopoli – and now, from the weak state of Serie A sides in Europe in general.
The game actually started rather slow. Borussia Dortmund were pressing relentlessly, as they would all game, but neither side wanted to risk exposing themselves in order to score. At least, not at first. Ciro Immobile caused a scary moment when he forced Gianluigi Buffon to clear the ball early on, but Buffon was quick to get that ball out of play. Similarly, Immobile received a pass and caught Giorgio Chiellini out of position at the start of Juve’s half. Patrice Evra made a risky but perfectly timed tackle to stop it.
Juve would make a statement quickly, though. Alvaro Morata, in the 12th minute, found himself with some space in Dortmund’s half. He made a run towards the leftside edge of Dortmund’s area, and took a shot from a questionable angle. Despite the angle Morata’s shot was forceful enough to force a save from Roman Weidenfeller, and Carlos Tevez was right there to tap in the rebound. Who else?
It was a great moment, and Juventus Stadium erupted in celebration. Juventus were ahead of Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League. Sadly, five minutes later it all changed. It was a pedestrian play, really. Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci were a bit too close together, awaiting an aerial ball coming down. Marco Reus was facing them a few yards away. Chiellini slipped as he took his first touch, and Marco Reus was able to easily get the ball and a one on one with Buffon.
As great as Buffon is, it’s tough in general to stop an attacker with such space. Much less Reus, who had his pick of any shot. Predictably, Reus slid one past Buffon, and the game was level. Even worse, Dortmund had scored a crucial away goal. As upsetting as the sequence was, Juventini can perhaps take solace in the fact that Dortmund only scored via a freak accident.
Juventus were quick to respond. Leonardo Bonucci, who had a fine game in defense, sent forth an aerial long ball to Carlos Tevez. Bonucci, who had been instructed by Allegri previously this season to keep his passes on the ground, was given free reign today with his passing, and Juve benefited. This time, he found Tevez, who hooked the ball back for Morata. Morata was about 15 yards out and took a strong header, but he was just too far from the goal and Weidenfeller easily saved the chance.
Bonucci himself would get a chance to score soon after. Mats Hummels fouled Arturo Vidal by the corner flag, though he had seemingly contained Vidal and was about to win a throw-in. A free kick was awarded, and Andrea Pirlo found Bonucci in the box, but his header went over the goal by a decent amount.
Pirlo would come off minutes later during a setpiece. It was rather sudden, he didn’t collapse on the field and get carried off. Rather, as the teams set up for the next whistle, Pirlo came off for Roberto Pereyra. It seemed like a bad omen for Juventus, but Pereyra would end up having a fine game.
When Pirlo left, Claudio Marchisio moved back into the regista role. Roberto Pereyra actually took over Vidal’s spot as a “trequartista” – though this is a misnomer as either Vidal or Pereyra in that position always helps defends, and thus isn’t really a trequartista – and Vidal moved to central midfield alongside Pogba. It was a smart move by Max, as each man really excelled in their given spot. Even Vidal, who has struggled at times this season.
But it was Pogba, not Vidal, who would have hand in Juve’s second goal. Tevez passed to Pogba out left, who fed Morata a ball into the box, which was tapped in for Juve’ go ahead goal. It was right before half time, and in a way it took the sails out of Jurgen Klopp’s side.
During the second half, it seemed Dortmund were almost content with the result. At least, they were happy to lay back and try to hit Juve on the counter. Certainly, they continued to press Juve’s players nonstop. However, especially in midfield, the Juventus men quickly adapted to the pressing and responded with quick passing, deft touches, and smart movement.
Juve did have a few chances to score during the second half. Carlos Tevez forced a save that led to a corner in the 65th minute, and Roberto Pereyra had a painfully close effort that went across the face of goal and just wide. The Pereyra effort would have been assisted by Morata, by the way. He was basically like a perfect hybrid of Llorente and Tevez, both a reference point and a tenacious player who helped create in attack and close down in defense.
Dortmund’s most dangerous moments in the second half came near the end of the match, when they had two chances in two minutes around the 90th minute. However, both times they were only able to penetrate Juve’s area, and not actually execute in the box. At other times, Juve foiled their attacks. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, for example, was fed a dangerous long ball, but Bonucci cleared it with a bicycle kick before it could reach its destination.
While Dortmund may have weakened a bit in the second half, they will stand strong in the second leg. Juventus, who will be the away side, will really need an away goal to secure a win. Still, they showed today that they can take on Dortmund’s best side and handle them. In 3 weeks we will see if a change of scenery can affect the two sides.
Statistics:
Man of the Match: Alvaro Morata
Flop of the Match: Giorgio Chiellini
Fouls: 8
Corners: 8
Pass Accuracy: 80%
Shots on Target: 3
Total Shots: 10
Ball Possession: 47%
Formation: 4-3-1-2
Formation:
Lineups:
Juventus: Buffon; Lichtsteiner, Bonucci, Chiellini, Evra; Marchisio, Pirlo (Pereyra 37), Pogba; Vidal (Padoin 86); Tevez (Coman 88), Morata
Borussia Dortmund: Weidenfeller; Piszczek (Ginter 32), Papasthatopoulos (Kirch 46), Hummels, Schmelzer; Gündogan, Sahin; Mkhitaryan, Reus, Aubameyang; Immobile (Blaszczykowski 76)
Ref: Lahoz (ESP)
Poll:
[socialpoll id=”2255038″]
This was amazing, i loved it! We played like champions in the cl.
Dortmund showed MAJOR weaknesses which i hope Allegri takes note of. One of many of Dortmunds strength is obviously their relentless ability to press, and press high, but the amount of times their pressing left their centerbacks secluded and isolated shouldnt go unnoticed. Its baffling how on numerous occasions, a grounded long ball would slice through their entire midfield and reach one of our strikers and through that, a a dangerous counter attack surfaced. Had our decisions in the final third been more thought out, this couldve easily been a demolition.
Pirlo played well, extremely well, for the amount he was on, but again, i prefer Marchisio in front of our defense. Pirlo looked to be his usual self and was even able to read dortmund well and intercept passes well, but Marchisio is a consistent shield for our defenders. It took about 10 mins for him to settle and make a difference in our attack, but he was an almost immediate aid to our defensive game and could possibly be the reason for the turn around in our sides dominance. Also like Morata, i feel Pererya is a player who deserves minutes. He wasnt always involved and his pressing wasnt as ferocious as ive seen the past, but his dribbling is something we need and he can only improve with consistent playing time.
With that said, my man of the match is Morata. Mentions to Pogba and Evra are too in order. Evra was solid in defense and had the legs to make strong runs. forward. Definitely didnt look like a washed up player i thought he d be. Pogba was great. A bit over zealous at times, hut when you have the skill he possesses, you cant help it at times.
Other players deserve praise too, but i dont feel like typing more
This was a good, but not great result. Another goal would have tilted the draw firmly in our favor. Our advantage is very slight at the moment.
My biggest issue today and in many recent games is the play of Vidal. He looks totally out of sync and and incapable of making passes with any precision. Maybe the pressure from opposing defenders is too much in his current role in the 4-3-1-2 formation. Perhaps he is still injured and frustrated with his inability to impact games like he used to. Whatever the problem may be, I really hope it won’t prove costly.
Agree re Vidal. He was hustling and was ferocious but his touch was off, just like it has been all season for the most part. Also, thought Pogba tried to do too much at times where he easily could have put a ball into the box or made an easy pass instead of trying to do something crazy. He did start to settle into the game though and his beautiful assist did not go unnoticed. Bonnuci I thought was very good at the back and chiellini, well his obvious blunder left me enraged, but he worked and fought very hard after that to make up for it(if he scored that goal I would have forgave him). I thought both FBs did an awesome job especially considering how much speed they had to deal with. And finally our two men upfront, along with everyone on the pitch today, left it all out there and played like true champions to me. Besides that one chiello mistake and our poor finishing I am very pleased with this result. Hopefully they go to Dortmund and play with the same tenacity and play for a win to prove to the world that Juve means business.
Yeah, Chiello should be forgiven for that accident — it could happen to anyone. Aside from that and Vida’s poor display, the only regret is that Juve didn’t score a 3rd goal.
We can never make it easy for ourselves can we haha. As long as we leave everything on the field I feel relatively confident going into our second leg.
Result was good, but the match itself was a joy. It gives me hope and shows that our players can step up and make a name for their selves.
I dont know if its me, but i didnt think Vidal was bad, especially compared to his earlier form qhere he d misplace 2/3 passes. O dont think we could blame his position hes playing. He was always in a more advanced position, even under Conte and was one of our best and most composed players in front of the final third.
I hope you are right about Vidal. I respect Allegri’s decision to stick with him through thick and thin, but his play has been painful to watch, IMHO.
With all the pressure on Juve as flagbearers of Italy in CL, I expected to see a lot of nerves from Juve today. There may be less pressure on Juve when they play in Dortmund.
3rd goal would have been perfect, but the advantage is for us and that’s the most important thing for me. Pressure is on Dortmund and if we manage to score one goal too, Dortmund will have to score three against us.
Also worried about Vidal, he’s very shaky. Starting Pereyra should be a real option here, if he doesn’t pick up his game this weekend. I love Vidal but we can’t have him tilting in such an important game as the return to Dortmund. Was getting more and more likely to pick up a red card and that could just cost us our CL campaign
Agreed on all of this, Bonucci also played really good, bossing the defense and had a few good long balls, excellent play. Tevez and Morata were a major force this game, they should be starters in every game and become an even better duo.
Chiellini made a costly mistake and really played clumsy throughout the game but Vidal was just as bad, he seemed to tilt in my eyes. Hopefully they both pick up their game again.Pereyra did really good as well, too bad he couldn’t score that chance.
In any case we need to give more chances to new players in our midfield.
Pirlo is close to retirement, Marchisio about to turn 30, Vidal 27-28 and Pogba seems set to leave. Fast forward a few seasons and who are we going to field? This is a bit off-topic in CL games but a serious thing to consider, we need to get new players worked into the team before we pull a Milan. Once their veterans were done for, they crumbled, look at where they are now. We must avoid that.
I’m hoping the 8% that voted for chiellini are joking? He played well after his mistake but it was a very costly one…
Hahah I was thinking that too, how on earth could anyone see Chiello as MOTM seriously? he’s the only one to blame for Reus’ goal and was shaky throughout a large chunk of the game. Vidal was also not the Vidal we got used to.
I voted Vidal because he stomped Immobile, and his yellow was a very useful yellow. He is always good to have on the pitch.
Lmao 😛 “He hit former Juve player who is now hateful toward Juve = good guy Vidal!”
I’m more sad towards his departure than mad, its more like wih Obi-wan: “YOU WERE THE CHOSEN ONE” – but you changed and I cut your limbs off now.
Yeah I would have been thrilled to have him with us after his season at Torino.. Now I prefer the cut off limbs
Darth Ciro hahah
Also anybody know the situation with Pirlo and his injury or what happened to him? Would be a shame if it is something serious
I’ve missed the first 20 minutes, but apart that it was decent. Certainly better performance than the last couple of league games I’ve seen, but still I am not amazed. This seemed like a dominating performance simply because Dortmund was playing badly.
The away game will be much harder than this.
Dont ruin my high Peter! :p
Cesena is a much worse team, but we played poorly against them, evidently!
This. Cesena and Atalanta played much worse than Dortmund did and we had trouble dominating them. This match was a step in the right direction.
Yup.and in the past, we ve shown taht we struggle against teams that actualy pressed us, but yesterday, we found a way through it.
#GrandeAllegri
Playing the way we played against Cesena is unacceptable. A result of 2-2 against Cesena is horrible. Saying things like they are a strong side is BS.
All they did against Dortmund is they took it more seriously as they should every time.
Overall pretty good performance. In the first half we were ok, we struggled with dortmund’s pressing although we were dangerous on the counter attack. In the 2nd half for last 20 mins we improved and started to dominate the match and it really looked like we’d get 3rd. Morata and Tevez were brilliant but i chose Morata as my MOTM. Apart from Dortmunds defence, I noticed that Dortmund’s midfield could not deal with long balls up to Morata and Tevez which we need to take advantage of in the 2nd leg and you could just tell that Immobile was so desperate to score against us, but luckily he was shit.
Is anyone watching arsenal-monaco? What a game, 0-2 and monaco keep on going forward instead of just playing defensive! Beautiful to watch!
Those last few minutes though haha!
I love seeing PL teams lose and especially arsenal!
Hater
My buddy is a big Arsenal fan and thinks they are great while hating on juve so naturally I always root for them to get crushed. I hate when he says PL is by far the best league in the world
It’s the best brand, but league and quality??? No
Brand probably means more these days than quality.
It really does. Man U are crap, but yet they still managed a 200 mill deal because of their brand
I see. So it’s not directly aimed at the club or league itself. I never really can understand how you can be friends with someone who hates on Juve. Friends are supposed to have understanding for what their friends like.
But what it the strongest league? Probably the bundesliga. They have pretty strong teams throughout the entire league. But after that it’s probably the PL. I don’t think Cesena for example would win against Leicester or QPR. Same goes for whoever is at the bottom of La Liga. The teams at the bottom of that league are amateur level.
An Arsenal fan told me they are further than we are. I guess this match proved him very wrong. I don’t understand how it’s possible though, i didn’t watch the match, but what exactly does Monaco have?
Further? does he mean better than us? No offense to Arsenal fans, but Arsenal are not a top team at the moment
Neither are Juve. 😛
We Re at least a 2nd tier club! :p
Meanwhile at Arsenal…
If Arsenal are in form they are definitely 2nd tier with this team. Sanchez, Ozil, Cazorla, Szczesny(who i have no idea what Wenger has against him, so talented..), Ox, Walcott, Koscielny, Ramsey.
The potential they have just won’t come out. We could crush them though.
With further i mean further in the development of becoming a top team in europe. There’s a while idea behind that word :p
They were bullying the midfield around especially Kondogbia(also had a goal) who apparently used to play on the say squad as Pogba. Arsenal looked very poor tbh
Looking poor, yeah Arsenal tends to have that problem. They have good players, but like sometimes with Juve, i have no clue why it doesn’t work well.
All italian teams progress!!!
Oh and i***r did too.
And they say that the EPL is the best league there is.. Yeah right. Tottenham crashed out by fiorentina, liverpool crashed out by besiktas. Soon city will crash out of the cl and so will arsenal. lol
Good that all italian teams are still there!
The only reason Italians haven’t succeeded in Europa is because this the first year they care. Agnellis speaches are working
At this point it’s Italy’s only hope. They can’t just bank on Juve doing crazy things in the CL every year…Not yet at least. Hopefully none of the Italian teams draw each other!
Well best league doesn’t have to mean they have the strongest teams. The league overall has the most money and is considered by most people as the most fun league to watch. No EPL team can compete with Bayern and Real Madrid.
I’m sure people said that a few years back also when Chelsea beat Bayern. For the most part i agree with you but in CL anything can happen
Sure, in a match anything can happen. But based on stats, none of them can compete. We can’t either though.