Juventus travelled to Lisbon, a destination where they've
had problems in the past, knowing that a win would guarantee their place in the
knock out stage of the champions league. Juventus would come into this match on
the back of a 2-0 win against Milan and having already beaten Sporting 2-1 in
Turin, all be it the hard way as Sporting proved tough opposition to break
down. Sporting on the other hand began the night knowing that they would be
without both William Carvalho and Fábio Coentrão due to injury
Juventus began the opening 10 minutes brightly, passing the
ball around the pitch with an air of confidence about the side, yet it would be
Sporting who would have the first real effort on goal as Bruno Cesar struck the
ball high over the bar from distance. From then on Sporting improved with each
passing minute as Juventus played sluggishly, with slow movements and giving
the ball away poorly. De Sciglio for most of the half looked very much like a
player returning from injury and on occasion would lose out when faced with one
v one situations. The match would have its first goal 20 minutes in, as the
home side took the lead. Buffon parrying the initial effort from Gelson
Martins, only to see the ball fall into the path of Bruno Cesar who made no
mistake in scoring the rebound from 10 yards. Juventus were visibly struggling
to cope when in possession, especially in their own half as Sporting would give
Juventus players little time on the ball and press through the half, forcing
Juventus into making mistakes. There would be another scare for Juventus as
Mandzukic miss timed his clearance in the penalty box, finding nothing but air,
bringing Chiellini into action to block Bruno Fernandes attempt at finding Bas
Dost 10 yards in front of goal
Juventus started the second half with attacking intentions,
with both Dybala and Pjanic sending their efforts high over the bar. Sporting
would sit deep defending their lead only to break forward with quick counter
attacks compared with Juventus gradual build up play, mainly seeing Juventus
restricted to long range efforts on goal. 63minute in and Sporting would have a
chance to double their lead, as Bas Dost was unable to get onto the end of a
dangerous low cross directly in front of goal. Juventus had their best chance
to make it 1-1 6 minutes later, when Dybala flicked the ball onto Higuain who
saw his headed effort brilliantly saved by the reactions of Rui Patricio.
Sporting continued to frustrate Juventus up until the 79th minute when Juventus
finally scored the equaliser, as Cuadrado found Higuain with a pass into
Sporting’s penalty area, who dinked the ball over the diving Patricio
to make it 1-1 and become Juventus saviour of the night once again. Both sides had
chances within the remaining 10 minutes to score a winner but both Douglas
Costa and Bruno Fernandes efforts missed the target.
Talking Points: De Sciglio was poor tonight, yes it was his
first match back from injury but his few performances prior to the injury
didn’t impress much either, making Allegri decision to include him over
Lichsteiner as the main right back for Champions league nights more than a
little questionable right now. Dybala had another off night in Europe for
whatever reason and really needs to up his game on these occasions if he is to
be regarded as one of the rising stars in football. Higuain had few clear cut
chances tonight but thankfully for Juventus he didn’t need many, the first
chance brilliantly saved by Patricio the second ending in the net. Juventus
again got lucky against Sporting like the previous meeting by taking points
from an overall poor performance. The result leaves Juventus sitting in second
place in group D, 3 ahead of Sporting and 3 behind group leaders Barcelona who
also drew tonight away to Olympiacos
Full Time Result: 1-1
Goal Scorers: Bruno Cesar (20), Higuain (79)
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