Young Boys - Juventus (12.12.18)
Juventus end the night as winners of Group H, so you would expect for there to be few complaints right? Right? Wrong. Admittedly with qualification for the knock out stage already confirmed whether Juventus won, drew or lost away to Young Boys the result didn’t matter, however the performance did matter, and simply the performance was not good enough. In ways it was a night similar to the home defeat against Manchester United, all be it not as painful, Juventus create plenty of goal scoring opportunities, for whatever reason fail to make most of them count and are then punished.
During the first half Juventus created several chances to take the lead, with Ronaldo uncharacteristically firing blanks (ending the first half only hitting the target once with four attempts), yet somehow Juventus failed to convert a single opportunity into a goal, then disaster struck as Douglas Costa somehow decided it would a good idea to drill a pass across his own penalty area towards Alex Sandro, who clumsily made contact with Ngamaleu as he attempted to control the ball, was it the correct decision to give a penalty? Yes, as Alex Sandro does kick the leg of Ngamaleu, did Ngamaleu make the most of the situation? Absolutely he does, but none of this happens had Douglas Costa not made a risky pass across his own goal when it wasn’t necessary. Young Boys took the lead on the half hour mark as Szczęsny came close but not close enough to prevent the ball from hitting the back of the net. Things weren't all bad though, as not only was there plenty of time for Juventus to respond, but over in Spain Manchester United were doing Juventus a big favour by being incompetent, as Valencia also led by 1-0.
Juventus went into half time practically leading on all fronts except the one that mattered most, the score line, nine shots, two on target, zero goals. Juventus continued to create more opportunities to bring the scoreline level, moments after the restart Young Boys goal scorer Hoarau hitting the ball against his own bar from a Pjanic free kick. Juventus continued their search for a goal but failed to find one, Young Boys however did not fail, as De Sciglio gave way to a quick counter attack with his stray pass, and with it giving Hoarau his second goal of the night. With 71 minutes played Allegri finally brought on Dybala as another attacking option, who immediately made the difference and found the back of the net for Juventus, after wonderful link up play between himself, Douglas Costa & Ronaldo. Later during time added on Dybala would once again hit the back of the net with a powerful shot from range that was unfortunately ruled offside, as Ronaldo motioned to head the ball whilst being in an offside position, which begs the question why was Dybala on the bench for so long?
So lets start with the positive, Juventus won the group which in theory should see them avoid a potentially tough tie in the round of 16, though it has to be said that finishing second in the group doesn't always spell disaster for a clubs champions league ambitions, as both Juventus (2014-2015 season) and Real Madrid (2017-2018) have shown by reaching the final despite finishing runners up in their groups. Juventus are also creating several goal scoring opportunities which is always a good thing, as in theory one of them is bound to result in a goal being scored, at least in theory. Paulo Dybala was the difference maker, as he was during the previous meeting with Young Boys in which he scored a hat trick in. Tonight Dybala came onto the pitch as a substitute (more on that later) immediately made an impact and could have dragged Juventus towards a draw had it not been for Ronaldo being flagged offside, instead the single goal and making a fool of Allegri for taking so long to bring Dybala on as a substitute will have to do.
Which brings us to the negative, stating the obvious this was a game Juventus should not be losing, and now Juventus will go into the history books as the first side that Young Boys have defeated in the Champions League group stage. The flip side to earlier praise for creating goal scoring opportunities is of course not taking them, with the knock out stage on the horizon Juventus fans know all too well how costly mistakes can be when it comes to victory & defeat, and not taking your chances in games is a big mistake, if you want proof see tonight's result and the defeat against Manchester United as evidence of how costly it can be not to make the most of your chances. If Juventus truly are among the favorites to win the champions league then this will need to be addressed, preferably long before February.
Then there is the captain of the ship, Massimiliano Allegri, at times it is all too easy to point the finger of blame in his direction but it is definitely warranted on this occasion. With the game needing more creativity Allegri decided instead to bring on Can for Pjanic in midfield, shortly afterwards with Juventus trailing 2-0 Allegri finally brought on Dybala, who for the remaining twenty minutes went on to do what none of his team mates could, scoring within ten minutes of his introduction, and almost doubling his tally for the night had it not been for the assistant referees offside flag. Why it took until the 71st minute for Allegri to bring on Dybala with his side needing a goal only he himself will know, but its another example of Allegri taking too long to make a tactical decision when one is needed.
The main obstacle for Juventus still remains, and will likely remain come February when the knock out stage begins, themselves. Whether it be needless red cards like Ronaldo against Valencia or creating several goal scoring chances and not making them count, all of Juventus wounds have been self inflicted and will need to be corrected for when it matters most. Until then Juventus have roughly two months to put an end to being their own worst enemy.
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