To say that fate was not in Juventus’ favor today is an understatement – Thiago Motta’s players, however, showed great character in Leipzig and, after a crazy match, won their second victory in this year’s edition of the Champions League.
This match started badly for Juventus – in the first 12 minutes the Bianconeri lost Bremer and Gonzalez due to injuries. The Brazilian suffered a serious knee injury and was replaced by Gatti, while the Argentine, who had muscle problems, was replaced by Conceicao. Despite these difficulties, Motta’s players had the ball more often, although they lacked anything specific under Gulacsi’s goal. In the 30th minute, the hosts launched a deadly counterattack, in which Openda passed to Seska, who was moving into the free field, who received the ball and hit the crossbar, giving Di Gregorio no chance. On the other side, Fagioli and Koopmeiners missed shots, and the referee decided not to award a penalty kick when Lukeba kicked Vlahovic under his own goal.
After the break, Juventus decisively went for the equalizer – Koopmeiners hit the post after McKennie’s pass, and already in the 50th minute it was 1-1 thanks to Vlahovic’s goal, who closed the action brilliantly after Cambiaso’s cross. In response, a few minutes later, Openda hit the post, and from the 59th minute the Bianconeri had to play with ten players. Di Gregorio was shown a red card for lightly touching the ball with his hand outside his own penalty area as he tried to stop a charging Openda. Motta sacrificed Yildiz for Perina, and introduced Douglas Luiz for Savona, moving McKennie to right-back. The newly introduced Brazilian blocked Simons’ free kick with his hand, and the referee, after consulting the VAR system, awarded a penalty kick – Sesko approached the standing ball and gave his team the lead again. 3 minutes later it was a draw again – Vlahović made a fantastic shot from outside the penalty area. The numerically superior hosts were looking for a third goal – Openda hit the post again, and Kalulu stopped Nusa’s shot with a great tackle. In the 82nd minute, Juventus scored its third goal – Conceicao dribbled Raum in the penalty area and shot flatly to the long post, giving the Bianconeri the lead. The end of the match saw frontal attacks by Leipzig and a lot of luck for the Old Lady – Sesko, Orban and Andre Silva made mistakes in great situations, thanks to which three points went to Turin.
After two rounds of the Champions League, Juventus is one of seven teams with full points. Now the Bianconeri will face a home league clash against Cagliari, and we will see them again in Europe in three weeks when they host Stuttgart.
RB Leipzig – Juventus 2:3 (1:0)
30′ Sesko (Openda’s assist), 65′ Sesko (penalty kick) – 50′ Vlahović (Cambiaso’s assist), 68′ Vlahović (Conceicao’s assist), 82′ Conceicao (Fagioli’s assist)
Juventus (4-2-3-1): Di Gregorio – Savona (61′ Douglas Luiz), Kalulu, Bremer (6′ Gatti), Cambiaso – Fagioli, McKennie – Gonzalez (12′ Conceicao), Koopmeiners, Yildiz (60′ Perin) – Vlahović
RB Leipzig (4-4-2): Gulacsi – Geertruida (87′ Vermeeren), Orban, Lukeba, Raum – Baumgartner (46′ Henrichs), Seiwald (87′ Poulsen), Haidara (75′ Nusa), Simons – Openda (90′ Andre Silva), Sesko
Yellow cards: 79′ room – 85′ Conceicao, 90′ Perin
Red cards: 59′ By Gregorio
