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Juventus beat Ferencvaros by two goals to one in a hard-fought victory on Tuesday to ensure a berth in the Round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League.
Myrto Uzuni opened the scoring for the visitors as the Hungarian side punished the Italians on a counter-attack. Following their opener, however, it was all Juventus.
Ferencvaros sat back and defended in numbers to shield their advantage. They looked disciplined at the back until Cristiano Ronaldo equalized with a fantastic piledriver from outside the box just before half-time.
Juventus upped the momentum in the second half but the Hungarian side kept hanging on. The game was decided late into stoppage time as Alvaro Morata came off the bench to score the winner for the Bianconeri.
Here are the five major talking points from the match.
#1 Alvaro Morata saves the day for Juventus
Alvaro Morata came on in the 62nd minute of the game for Paulo Dybala and ensured that Juventus secured a place in the Round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League.
Morata headed in an inch-perfect cross from Juan Cuadrado in the dying minutes of the game to deny Ferencvaros a draw. The former Chelsea man also came close to scoring earlier in the game when he the hit the outside of the post.
#2 Cristiano Ronaldo opened his UCL account for this season with a banger
Cristiano Ronaldo saved Juventus some grace as he scored a goal just before half-time to grab an equalizer for his side. The Portugal international cut inside and struck an effort from his weak foot past Denes Dibusz.
The 35-year-old missed Juventus' last two fixtures against Barcelona and Ferencvaros after he tested positive for the coronavirus. However, he announced his return to the competition with a fantastic goal from outside the box to change the tide in favor of the Old Lady.
#3 Ferencvaros put in a defensive masterclass
Ferencvaros put in a massive shift at the back. The five-man defense really frustrated the hosts as they struggled to find a way through all night.
The visitors maintained their defensive shape well with two lines of five and four in defense and midfield respectively.
The offside trap worked well in favor of the Hungarians as Juventus were held offside nine times. They denied Juventus any extra space to penetrate into the final third, and it took a moment of magic from Ronaldo to grab the equalizer.
Ferencvaros were extremely unfortunate to concede another goal in the dying minutes of the game.
#4 Juventus lacked creativity in the center of the park
Juventus lacked a creative midfielder who is capable of breaking the lines against Ferencvaros. With Andrea Pirlo opting for Arthur, Weston McKennie and Rodrigo Bentancur in the center, Juventus had to rely on their wing-backs to create chances.
Both Arthur and McKennie are good at controlling the tempo of the game. Meanwhile, Bentancur is a box-to-box midfielder and cannot be entrusted to be the provider upfront. With Ferencravos opting for a five-man back-line, the hosts found it really difficult to create enough from the center.
The Italian giants have not had a world-class midfielder who can make a difference upfront for a long time, and thus they should be looking to fix the problem in the upcoming transfer windows.
#5 Andrea Pirlo's makeshift back-line misfired
Andrea Pirlo was forced to pair Danilo and Matthijs de Ligt in the center of the Juventus defense as Merih Demiral, Georgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci are all sidelined due to injuries. With Danilo playing as a center-back, Alex Sandro was handed his first start of the season.
Pirlo had the choice to select an academy player to fill the void or to go with Danilo as a makeshift center-back. The gamble proved to be a costly one as Danilo struggled throughout the match. He was neither able to read the game or to analyze the threats. The Brazilian was also caught out of position, which led to Ferencravos capitalizing on the counter to score their opener.
