Match report: Villarreal 1-1 Juventus
Dusan Vlahovic scored the second-fastest goal for a Champions League debutant as his Juventus side were held to a 1-1 draw at Villarreal in their last-16 first leg on Tuesday. Read on ...
Max Allegri speaks: “We made a bad mistake on their equaliser,” says the Juve coach. “We perfectly knew that they were trying that move and we still allowed them to score. However, the team played a good game in general. We made a few mistakes also in attack, straying offside when we had good chances on the counterattack. In general, I’m quite satisfied with the performance.”
Dusan Vlahovic speaks: ““It was huge to score on my debut; it was very emotional,” says the Juventus striker. “However, I cannot be 100% satisfied because we have not won the game. We have to keep working hard. We played a good game and we could have won. There are some regrets but we must just focus on the next game.
“We tried to play well also in the second half but sometimes the opponents do not allow you to do what you want to do do. So congratulations to them for equalising. Personally, I have already forgotten this game and I’m focused on the next.”
Villarreal 1-1 Juventus: The second leg of this tie will be played in Turin on 16 March.
Meanwhile at Stamford Bridge: Chelsea have beaten Lille 2-0 in the first leg of their Round of 16 tie, the goals coming either side of half-time from Kai Havertz and Christian Pulisic.
Full-time: Villarreal 1-1 Juventus
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeeeeeep! It’s nicely poised at the end of the first leg, where it’s finished all square. Dusan Vlahovic put the visitors ahead in the opening minute but Villarreal kept plugging away and restored parity courtesy of a second half strike from Dani Parejo.
90+3 min: Foyth sends Lo Celso scuttling along the edge of the Juve penalty area but the VIllarreal defender goes to ground and appeals half-heartedly for a penalty before he can unleash a shot or move the ball on.
90+1 min: We’re into added time in a game where one suspects both managers will be pleased enough with a draw but dissatisfied with the overall performances of their teams.
Villarreal were ponderous and unimaginative for much of the game after going behind in the opening minute, while Juve were in complete control of the game before losing their discipline and conceding a very sloppy goal.
88 min: Chukwueze tries to thread a clever pass into the path of Trigueros but it’s cut out. It’s the Nigerian’s last action of the game before being replaced by Yeremi Pino.
87 min: There’s a break in play as Mattia de Sciglio receives treatment from a team-mate for cramp. He makes way for Luca Pellegrini.
85 min: Dusan Vlahovic goes close to scoring his second of the evening, making room for a shot on the edge of the Villarreal area after running on to a short pass from Morata. His low drive is on target but Rulli gets down to keep it out with a strong hand.
83 min: Weston McKennie is being helped around the touchline from one side of the pitch to the other by two members of Juve’s backroom staff. He may just have twisted or sprained his ankle but his grimace suggests it may be a more serious injury.
82 min: Mattia De Sciglio escapes down the left wing but overhits his cross into the Villarreal penalty. It’s Juve’s first sortie of note into the home side’s territory in quite some time.
81 min: Not for the first time this evening, Weston McKennie is down hurt. He hobbles to the sideline with an injured ankle and is replaced by Denis Zakaria.
78 min: Villarreal double-substitution: Pervis Estupinan and Manu Trigueros on for Alfonso Pedraza and Alberto Moreno.
76 min: Villarreal have been in the ascendency since equalising and have visibly upped the tempo with which they are going about their business.
73 min: Referee Daniel Siebert gets his yellow card out of his pocket to book Adrien Rabiot for a high, nasty, studs-up challenge on Samuel Chukwueze.
The German official is immediately surrounded by Villarreal players who think it Rabiot deserves a red card. He books the home side’s goalkeeper, Geronimo Rulli, who had travelled a long way out of his goal to complain, then shows the card to Rabiot, who is very lucky not to have been sent off.
71 min: Juve substitution: Arthur on, Locatelli off.
69 min: Juventus had been creaking at the back for a few minutes, so you can’t say that equaliser wasn’t coming. The source was unlikely, however, with Daniel Parejo running completely untracked from midfield into acres of space in the Juve penalty area to fire past the fairly helpless Szczesny.
GOAL! Villarreal 1-1 Juventus (Parejo 66)
It’s level! Villarreal equalise, with Daniel Parejo sweeping an Etienne Capoue dink over the top past Szczesny on the half volley with his left foot from about 10 yards out. He was completely unmarked as he ran between defenders.
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65 min: Bonucci heads an Alfonso Pedraza clear at the near post.
64 min: Alberto Moreno gallops into the Juventus penalty area with the ball at his feet but is crowded out by several defenders before he can fashion a shot or lay it off to a team-mate.
63 min: Samuel Chukwueze sends a cross into the Juventus penalty area from the right flank but it’s headed clear.
60 min: The game has descended into all manner of scrappiness, a state of affairs that is unlikely to be improved by the inevitable series of imminent subsitutions now we’ve reached the hour mark. It’s not much fun to watch but Juventus won’t care.
59 min: Juan Cuadrado cuts inside from the right and blasts the ball high over the bar, incurring the wrath of Juve strikers Alvaro Morata and Dusan Vlahovic in the process. On the touchline, the greedy Colombian’s manager Max Allegri didn’t look too impressed either.
57 min: Wojciech Szczesny saves comfortably from a Alberto Moreno mis-kick after good work through the centre by Giovani Lo Celso. It was a decent move by Villarreal, albeit as slow and ponderous as much of their attacking play has been tonight.
54 min: Adrien Rabiot sticks a leg out to nip a blossoming Villarreal attack in the bud. Villarreal win a free-kick wide on the left and Daniel Parejo curls the ball into the penalty area. Bonucci heads it out for a corner, from which Juve break up the field.
52 min: Juventus are completely bossing the early stages of this second half but VIllarreal manager Unai Emery has yet to make any changes. The Italian side look very comfortable.
49 min: McKennie plays the ball wide to Cuadrado, who’s low drive into the penalty area is cleared by Juan Foyth, preventing McKennie from finishing the move he’d started. The American collides with Foyth and goes down injured but is soon fit to continue.
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47 min: Alvaro Morata sidefoots a volley wide of the upright when a man of his talents should have at least hit the target. Other opinions are available.
Second half: Villarreal 0-1 Juventus
46 min: Play resumes at La Madrigal, where Juventus have brought on Leonardo Bonucci. Alex Sandro makes way.
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Half-time: Villarreal 0-1 Juventus
Peep! Juventus lead at the break courtesy of Dusan Vlahovic’s maiden Champions League goal after 33 seconds. They’ve had Villarreal’s measure for most of the half, although the Yellow Submarine will feel they should have equalised through a glorious opportunity that Giovani Lo Celso thumped off the woodwork when scoring looked a formality.
44 min: Juan Foyth goes down holding his face after shipping an arm in the face from Alvaro Morata, who escapes a booking.
41 min: Looking out of ideas and in need of some urgent half-time instruction, Villarreal attack down the left flank. Alfonso Pedraza’s attempted cross is blocked and put out for a throw-in by Alex Sandro. Juve can defend those kinds of moves all night long.
39 min: Danjuma tries to drive the ball across the face of the Juventus goal but his delivery is cut out by Matthijs De Ligt. Good defending.
38 min: Weston McKennie has a shot from close range blocked by VIllarreal skipper Albiol after the ball was squared by the menacing Mattia De Sciglio. Weston McKennie it was, who played ther ball wide to the Juve left wing-back.
36 min: Another hopeful ball forward from Villarreal, but Arnaut Danjuma is unable to bring it down before it goes out of play for a goal kick.
35 min: “They’re caught in a tactical straitjacket,” says BT’s Ian Darke, as the hosts are reduced to lumping the ball long. Mind you, it’s a tactic that’s serving Juventus fairly well, even if it probably isn’t what Villarreal boss Unai Emery had in mind.
32 min: Alvaro Morata wildly hits the ball high and wide from a tightish angle on the left after picking up a pass from Weston McKennie. He probably should have tried to pick out Vlahovic in the middle.
28 min: Villarreal keep trying to get the ball wide to Samuel Chukwueze on the right touchline but the Nigerian winger is getting fairly short shrift as far as getting cutting inside or getting crosses into the Juve penalty area is concerned.
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25 min: With his back to goal, Vlahovic shields the ball from Albiol and is quickly surrounded by opposition players. He manages to play the ball back to Manuel Locatelli, who shoots from the edge of the area. His effort is rushed and sails high over the bar.
24 min: Villarreal central defender Pau Torres and Juve striker Dusan Vlahovic are having quite the battle, the Spain international attempting to stick to his man like glue through fair means or foul but being given the run-around.
22 min: McKennie and Morata combine on the edge of the final third, with the latter playing the ball wide to De Sciglio. His shot from a ridiculously tight angle is blocked by Villarreal skipper Albiol.
19 min: Juan Foyt tries his luck with a low fizzing daisy-cutter from distance but his effort is wide of the far post.
17 min: Another cross from the right from Chuckwueze, but former Bournemouth striker Arnaut Danjuma’s back-heel flick doesn’t have enough on it to beat Szczcesny despite taking a deflection off a defender.
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16 min: Villarreal attack down the right flank but Samuel Chuckwueze’s cross is blocked and cleared.
15 min: Villarreal win their first corner of the game. Morata heads the inswinger straight up in the air at the near post, before Wojciech Szczesny emerges from his goal to claim the dropping ball.
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14 min: Giovani Lo Celso misses a sitter, thumping the ball off the angle of upright and cross-bar after being teed up by Alfonso Pedraza, who’d cut inside a few defenders from the left wing like a hot knife through butter. That’s an awful miss by the Villarreal striker.
12 min: Vlahovic goes down holding his knee in the centre-circle after being challenged for the ball by Pau Torres. It was an accidental collision and the big striker is OK.
10 min: Danilo goes long again from deep inside his own half. Vlahovic chests down the ball, this time with his back to goal halfway inside his own half and wins a free-kick after being barged off the ball. Nothing comes of it.
9 min: Juve try to break the Villarreal press but a cross-field pass to left wing-back Mattia De Sciglio goes out for a throw-in.
7 min: Villarreal don’t look too rattled by that early setback which had its roots in an error in midfield by Alberto Moreno, who gave the ball away. They’ve enjoyed a spell of sustained possession but have yet to threaten the Juve goal.
5 min: It was Danilo who provided the assist for Vlahovic, launching the ball long from inside his own half to send Juve’s striker haring between Raul Albiol and Pau Torres before beating Geronimo Rulli in the Villarreal goal.
2 min: Well, well. The man everyone wanted in January, Dusan Vlahovic, sprints between VIllarreal’s two central defenders to latch on to a long ball from deep, chests it down and veers a little right. Having teed up the shot, he squeezes a low diagonal shot into the far corner with his weaker right foot.
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GOAL! Juventus 1-0 Villarreal (Vlahovic 1)
Juve lead! Dusan Vlahovic scores with his first touch after 33 seconds.
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Villarreal v Juventus is go!!!
1 min: Villarreal get the ball rolling, their players wearing yellow shirts, shorts and socks. Juve’s representatives wear black and white striped shirts, white shorts and white socks.
Not long now: Your reminder that away goals no longer count for “extra” in the Champions League, as the teams march out on to the La Madrigal sward. Raul Albiol leads out the hosts, while Alex Sandro wears the armband for Juve.
Both sets of players stand for the Champions League anthem and kick-off is just a few handshakes, an exchange of pennants, a few handshakes, a coin-toss and a shrill blast of German referee Daniel Siebert’s whistle away.
A debutant to look out for: Dusan Vlahovic makes his European debut tonight, having signed for Juve from Fiorentina during the transfer window. The 22-year-old Serb has scored 26 goals for club(s) and country so far this season, one of them in four appearances for his new club.
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Rerad on ...
Villarreal v Juventus line-ups
Villarreal: Rulli, Foyth, Albiol, Torres, Pedraza, Chukwueze, Capoue, Parejo, Moreno, Lo Celso, Danjuma.
Subs: Sergio Asenjo, Mario, Iborra, Estupinan, Trigueros, Dia, Pino, Mandi, Moi Gomez, Aurier, Jorgensen.
Juventus: Szczesny, De Sciglio, Danilo, de Ligt, Alex Sandro, Cuadrado, Locatelli, Rabiot, McKennie, Vlahovic, Morata.
Subs: Arthur, Pellegrini, Kean, Bonucci, Pinsoglio, Zakaria, Perin, Soule.
Referee: Daniel Siebert (Germany)
Tonight’s match officials
- Referee: Daniel Siebert
- Assistant referees: Jan Seidel and Rafael Foltyn
- Fourth official: Sven Jablonski
- Video Assistant Referee: Bastian Dankert
Ben McAleer's match preview
This will be the first ever meeting between Villarreal and Juventus, which makes it the only one of the eight last 16 ties that has never been played before. Villarreal, the reigning Europa League champions, have been streaky this season in La Liga. They started the campaign with four draws, had a dip at the start of winter and then put together a run of four wins before Christmas to climb up the table.
Following a short winless run in January they are now unbeaten in four and welcome Juventus to Spain on the back of a 4-1 win at Granada. Having been 13th at the start of December, they have their sights set on a top-four finish. It is difficult to know which Villarreal will turn up.
January arrival Giovani Lo Celso lasted 70 minutes against Granada on Saturday but he was pictured with ice on his leg after he came off and will, along with another former Tottenham man Étienne Capoue, need a late fitness test.
Villarreal are without injured trio Rubén Peña, Francis Coquelin and Gerard Moreno, but Yéremy Pino is back in contention having missed their final group game with Atalanta in December due to a ban. Arnaut Danjuma recently returned to action following a spell on the sidelines and scored a hat-trick against Granada, which will give Unai Emery a boost. Even though Emery has won the Europa League four times, he has never taken a club past the last 16 of the Champions League.
Early team news ...
Villarreal striker Gerard Moreno is sidelined with a calf injury that forced him off in a La Liga match against Real Betis a little over two weeks ago, while Ruben Pena and former Arsenal midfielder Francois Coquelin are also out. Formerly of the Premier League parish, Gio Lo Celso and Etienne Capoue were facing late assessments.
Juventus have injury woes of their own and Max Allegri has had to plan for this game without a brace of wingers named Federico: Bernardeschi and Chiesa and skipper Giorgio Chiellini. His fellow central defender Daniele Rugani and striker Paulo Dybala are also expected to sit this one out.
Champions League: Villarreal v Juventus
The Estadio de la Ceramica is the venue for tonight’s Round of 16 first leg match between Villarreal and Juventus. The Spanish hosts finished second in their group behind Manchester United, while their Italian visitors finished two points clear of reigning champions Chelsea as they won five games out of six in Group H.
Currently fourth in Serie A, nine points behind leaders AC Milan, Juventus arrive in Castellón hoping to go some way towards adding to the paltry – by their own high standards – two European titles they won in 1985 and 1996 bvy seeing off a Spanish side who have never made it further than the semi-finals, in 2006 when they lost to Arsenal.
Kick-off in the first ever competitive meeting between these grand old clubs is at 8pm (GMT) but stay tuned in the meantime for team news and build-up.
