Juventus took a giant step towards the quarterfinals this Wednesday by winning 0-2 at the Porto stadium, which had to play more than an hour with 10 due to the expulsion of Alex Telles and could not withstand the superiority of the Italians . Goals from Croatian Pjaca and Brazilian Dani Alves, who entered the final stretch of the match, left the tie practically resolved for the Italian champion.
The numerical inferiority marked the first leg for the dragons who, with a very safe Iker Casillas under the sticks, endured the entire first half and part of the second the domain of Juventus, who despite having possession of the ball could not create chances clear. Faced with the impotence of seeing the goalless tie on the scoreboard despite his superiority, coach Massimiliano Allegri knew how to make the necessary adjustments to his team and his changes gave rise to the two goals for the Italians.
Porto came out of the game more in tune and dominated the first 10 minutes of the game, in which they tried to warn Juventus with a frontal free kick that the Algerian Brahimi sent over Buffon’s crossbar.
However, Allegri’s team grew as the minutes went by and took control of the match, trying to put the rival defense to the test. A cut by the Spaniard Ivan Marcano when the Argentinian Higuain entered the area with danger and a clearance by Casillas with his foot against the Croatian Mandzukic kept the Italians at bay, who despite approaching the rival goal, could not generate clear chances.
The play that marked the rest of the game came when the clock did not even mark the 30 minutes of the game. Telles, with two fouls in just two minutes, was sent off in the 27th minute and left his team with ten, with Nuno Espirito Santo forced to sacrificing Portuguese striker Andre Silva in order to rearm his defense with Mexican winger Miguel Layun.
From that moment on, Juventus dominated the game at will, although it took a while to get the tickles out of Porto. The clearest chances of the first half came in the final minutes, with a clearance by Casillas to a shot by his former Real Madrid teammate Higuain and a strong left-footed shot to the post by Argentine Dybala.
The Italian team managed to hit the goal of the “dragons” as soon as the second half began, but Dybala’s goal was annulled due to a doubtful offside.
Juventus kept possession of the ball in their hands but could not open spaces between Porto’s lines, while the Blue and Whites remained safe on the field with much merit despite their numerical inferiority.
Things changed when Allegri decided to move the bench. The departure of striker Pjaca encouraged his team and led to the first goal in the 74th minute, when a Dybala ball in the center of the area hit Laycun and fell at the Croatian’s feet, who did the first.
With the advantage on the scoreboard, the Juventus coach decided to take Alves out and the Brazilian didn’t take a minute to get the ball into Casillas’ nets, chesting down a cross from Alex Sandro and culminating the play with a left-handed
In just two minutes, Porto’s defense collapsed and Juventus was comfortably ahead in the tie, an advantage that was even thrown at them in the remainder of the game, with Pjaca creating danger near Casillas. The game ended with the Italians looking for a third goal that did not come, but with a very favorable result for the second leg in Turin.
