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Manchester United and Juventus were facing each other for the thirteenth time in history. The Red Devils came into this game at the back of an impressive second-half performance against Chelsea whereas Juventus looked to maintain their hold at the top of Group H.
The game was a bit patchy in the opening exchanges with no clear momentum to any team. Juventus created few openings but nothing substantial to trouble David De Gea on goal. United had the first shot on goal with Pogba deflecting Mata's free-kick towards the goal, but it was comfortable for Szczęsny.
Juventus drew first blood after Dybala guided the ball past De Gea following some excellent play by Ronaldo. Allegri's men had more possession of the ball and controlled the half better but failed to increase their lead further. Both teams went into the break with Juventus leading by a solitary goal.
The onus was on United in the second half, and they started well with Martial threatening the Juventus goal on a couple of occasions. Against the run of play, De Gea pulled off a great save to deny Ronaldo scoring from a long range. United was pressing higher and saw more of the ball which saw Pogba hitting the post from a close range.
Despite all the efforts in the second half, Juventus kept their lead intact and walked away with all three points. Here the three takeaways from the game.
#3 Juventus proving their superiority
Juventus are one of the title contenders this season, and they have boosted their chances after the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid in the summer. They won their previous two games in the group and looked to continue their winning run.
Allegri's men were comfortable in the first half keeping more of the ball and had better chances than their opposition, but could only manage a single goal through Paulo Dybala. In the second half, United threatened to score and looked the better side, but Juventus showed their defensive stability and saw out any threat that United posed.
With three wins out of three, Juventus have put one foot into the knockout round.
#2 Lack of clear chances for United
Since the Newcastle game, it's becoming evident that United would start a game slow and left all to do in the second half. The Red Devils started the game slowly today and never looked to make any forward movement on or off the ball.
Juventus had all the possession in the first half and got numerous chances to take the game away from the home team in the first 45 mins.
Though Juventus was the better team in the first 45 minutes which looked a one-sided game, United looked to force the issue in the second half. Jose Mourinho's side found width in the flanks and carved out few crosses but nothing noteworthy to trouble the Juventus defence. Lukaku didn't look sharp at all as was Marcus Rashford.
Manchester United are now second in the group and still have everything to fight to progress into the next round.
#1 Wins are hard to come by for Jose
Jose Mourinho is under considerable pressure to save his job with every match being a must-win game for the Portuguese. They were hardly in the game in the first half, and it looked effortless for Juventus to play around Old Trafford.
The defensive issues are highlighted again with United failing to keep a clean sheet which signifies Jose's willingness to buy a centre-back in the summer. Victories are seemingly difficult to come by for Mourinho with the defence leaking goals and Romelu Lukaku out of form at the moment.
Its now only one win out of seven for United, and the pressure is mounting up on Jose Mourinho despite a couple of positive results from the last two games. A slow start to a match is also something Jose needs to address; else it would be difficult to get the desired results against top opposition.
