Juventus-Sporting Lisbon 1-0, goals from Gatti and miracles from Perin

From our correspondent Marco Guidi

April 13th
– Milan

An old football saying has it that the Portuguese play well and never score, while the Italians know how to defend themselves and then be cynical. Juventus-Sporting, first leg of the quarter-finals of the Europa League, responds perfectly to tradition. The black and whites win, suffering at times and thanks to a scrum goal by a defender, Federico Gatti, on his first goal for Juve. The 1-0 draw is a good visiting card for the return to Lisbon, but watch out for Sporting, a non-trivial team that would not have deserved the defeat.

SUFFERING

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Juve without Alex Sandro and De Sciglio, Sporting without the midfield hound Ugarte (suspended) and the offensive end Paulinho (in his place the class of 2004 Chermiti). Allegri launches the Di Maria-Milik-Chiesa trident from 1′, putting himself in the mirror with the opponents. Vlahovic starts from the bench. Amorim responds with Pedro Gonçalves back in the two in the midfield and Trincao in the starting lineup. The bianconeri start off with the right attitude: in the 12th minute Di Maria makes a great throw for Chiesa, hooks up and shoots into a handkerchief, good Adan to block. After 20′, however, the Portuguese dribble picked up. Morita creeps Szczesny from the edge: ball out by a whisker. Juve struggled in the manoeuvre, Sporting didn’t and collected four delicious chances to score in 5′, from 29′ to 33′: Szczesny did well twice (on Coates in the scrum and Gonçalves), on the third Kostic was providential to save on the line on the diagonal of Nuno Santos. Before the break, Allegri just lost the Polish goalkeeper due to an illness (palpitations, but the subsequent electrocardiogram checks gave negative results): Perin goes between the posts. Defection also among the guests, with St. Juste replaced by Diomande.

THE PAW

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The beginning of the second half doesn’t seem to change the canvas and Gonçalves tries immediately from outside: Perin foils for a corner. A couple of black and white gusts break the Portuguese rhythm, but Adan doesn’t run who knows what risk. In the 62nd minute the first substitutions Reis and Gomes for Nuno Santos and Chermiti on one side, Vlahovic and Fagioli for Milik and Kostic on the other. The Serbian shows up getting a yellow card for a fortuitous slap on an opponent. Juve now suffers less, but practically never manages to be seen dangerously up front. And then a hand arrives from Sporting: in the 73rd minute from a corner action, Adan’s sensationally empty exit, Vlahovic hits without fail, Coates saves on the line, Diomande fails to sweep and Gatti bags under measure. It is a paw for the Juventus 1-0. In the final, the excitement of the Stadium is due to the entry into the field of Pogba (third presence of the season), who in the 90th minute with a providential split anticipates Bellerin a stone’s throw from Perin. The last round of applause, however, went to the Italian goalkeeper, who in full recovery performed a double miracle on very close shots from Gonçalves and Bellerin. Juve are saved, but the feeling is that in Lisbon it won’t be a walk in the park.