20.02.2019 » Atletico Madrid 2-0 Juventus. Nightmare in Madrid!
All eyes were at the Wanda Metropolitano waiting for Cristiano Ronaldo's return to Madrid this Wednesday night, as Juventus and Atletico Madrid prepared to lock horns in their first battle in the UEFA Champions League since 2014. Things didn't go the way the Bianconeri were hoping and many sports bookmakers featured on Football Junkie were also on alert, as they were probably expecting a more even game. The Colchoneros secured a massive win by two goals without response and this lead could very well be crucial in March, by the time the two teams meet again for the second leg at the Allianz Arena. It's a huge blow in Juventus' aspirations this season, especially since they've already been knocked out of the cup in Italy and they seem to have the Serie A virtually wrapped up. The second leg is scheduled for March 12, but after tonight's 2-0 defeat, Juventus are now huge underdogs to go through...
Cristiano Ronaldo game photos in Atletico Madrid vs Juventus
Atletico Madrid 2-0 Juventus - Goals and highlights:
All Cristiano Ronaldo actions vs Atletico Madrid:
No excuses...
Optimists will tell you that there is still 90 minutes left in this tie and that anything can happen in Turin, which would technically be true but given some of the complaints about Juventus all season, a comeback does not seem on the cards after Juve went down 0-2 in Madrid. As if the result and the performance haven't been uncomfortable enough, the simple fact that the Italian side presented his strongest possible lineup tonight (with the except of Cancelo, who started on the bench), doesn't even leave room for excuses when looking back at what happened.
A return to Madrid was supposed to be more triumphant for Cristiano Ronaldo. Against a familiar rival, and one that he's dispatched of numerous times, the result was supposed to be better. Instead, what we saw was a hapless Juventus side that seemed to have zero idea how to get the ball to Ronaldo and were far too conservative to truly threaten one of the best defenses in Europe.
Cristiano Ronaldo had a great chance early in the 8th minute, after his rocket of a free-kick was brilliantly saved by Oblak. But apart from that, the truth remains that Juventus were completely outplayed on the night and it could have been 3 or even 4-0 in the end.
Atletico had a goal overturned for VAR, an early penalty claim denied and even hit the bar. They truly deserved the result and Allegri and his pupils will have a lot of work to do in the next weeks to prepare the team for the return leg, where they will try to overturn the massive deficit earned tonight.
Only one side deserved to win...
The hosts' goals came from José Giménez and Diego Godin. The two Uruguayan centerbacks were rocks for Atletico protecting their goal, but inside the Juventus box they were both the quickest to react to looses ball on both occasions they had to score and make the Vecchia Signora pay.
After a goalless first half, the opener was scored deep inside the second half and surprise, surprise, from a corner-kick. It's no secret to anyone that one of Atletico's biggest strengths are set-pieces and they certainly made the most of them tonight. First from a Jiménez strike that came off a rebound on Bonucci's lying body on the ground and just 5 minutes later it would be the captain, Diego Godín, making the net bulge for second time on the night.
Allegri will be criticized for his decision not to start João Cancelo today. The right back has been one of the stars of the season and yet, he opted to go with De Siglio instead, who didn't have a good game either.
Juventus have not been challenged all season really and it showed today. While they will most likely win the Serie A title in Italy in a couple months time, a more attacking approach will be needed if they want to be kings of Europe. That may sound like a very harsh and pessimistic view for the upcoming second leg, but given what we've seen tonight, it's hard to think otherwise.
Nevertheless, we've seen what Ronaldo can do when his team is down 2-0 coming off a first leg. Wolfsburg know the possibilities all too well.
Juventus line-up vs Atletico Madrid:
Goalkeeper: Szczesny
Defenders: De Sciglio, Chiellini, Bonucci, Alex Sandro
Midfielders: Matuidi, Pjanic, Bentancur, Dybala
Attackers: Cristiano Ronaldo, Mandzukic.
Match stats provided by www.ronaldo7.net
|
||
|---|---|---|
Atletico Madrid
|
vs
|
Juventus
|
2 |
Goals |
0 |
13 |
Shots |
14 |
5 |
Shots on goal |
3 |
8 |
Corner kicks |
7 |
12 |
Fouls commited |
16 |
3 |
Yellow cards |
1 |
0 |
Red cards |
0 |
36% |
Ball possession |
64% |
Cristiano Ronaldo next game for Juventus is on February 24 of 2019 against Bologna. You can watch Bologna vs Juventus, Inter Milan vs Rapid Wien, Valencia vs Celtic, Chelsea vs Malmo, Arsenal vs BATE Borisov, and Benfica vs Galatasaray, all matches provided from our football live game pages.
Juventus next game:
Bologna vs Juventus kick-off time (24-02-2019):
Beijing (China) | UTC/GMT+8: 22:00
Jakarta (Indonesia) | UTC/GMT+7: 21:00
India (New Delhi) | UTC/GMT+5.30: 19:30
Italy (Turin) | UTC/GMT+1: 15:00
Spain (Madrid) | UTC/GMT+1: 15:00
Portugal and England (Lisbon/London) | UTC/GMT+0: 14:00
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) | UTC/GMT-3: 11:00
New York (United States) | UTC/GMT-4: 10:00
Los Angeles (United States) | UTC/GMT-7: 07:00
Sources: ronaldo7.net / juventus.com / atleticodemadrid.com / independent.co.uk
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