Over the weekend, Juventus’ defeat could be attributed to simple referee incompetence, no matter what Luciano Spalletti’s team did, no matter how hard they fought to tie the game and simply make us proud of their effort despite being on the wrong side of the scoreboard.
What happened in Turkiye just under 72 hours later was not comparable.
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Juventus not only lost to Galatasaray in the first leg of the Champions League play-off round on Tuesday night. The Bianconeri, despite conceding two goals from a player who had not scored since the beloved tournament known as the Club World Cup, completely imploded in the second half in Istanbul. Galatasaray, a team that Spalletti knew was going to be quite a difficult task against even if his team played well, simply jumped on Juventus before and after Juan Cabal was sent off and left his team with 10 men. What happened was something that even in the craziest predictions no one saw coming…
A 5-2 defeat and hopes of reaching the UCL round of 16 on full life support, if not already at a standstill.
The second leg may be next Wednesday night, but even turning it into a game seems like a monumental task. Do you even try to get ahead of a Galatasaray team that these days only scores goals for fun? It seems like it’s reserved for Juventus teams much, much more talented than this one.
No matter how you look at it, this was bad. And on a night when they just needed to avoid total disaster to have a chance next week to advance to the next stage of the knockout rounds, they completely fell flat on their faces.
And not only did they concede five (or more) goals in a European tie for the first time in almost 70 bloody years, they did so in a way we’ve rarely seen a Juventus team exploit. Which, you know, is saying something because it’s hard to forget some of the complete disasters this club has had in recent years.
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There is no need to look back beyond the last time Juve played a Champions League round of 16 match away from home.
At least they managed to overcome the collapse in the first leg compared to what happened last season, right?
Okay, I say that jokingly, and after a result and a performance like this I know that joking is far from what anyone who supports Juventus really does. wants listen, so let’s get back to the topic a little bit. Let me pose a simple question: What the hell just happened? Why did Juventus go from being up 2-1 thanks to a pair of goals from Teun Koopmeiners (!!!) and withstanding quite well the early Gala that Spalletti warned about during his pre-match press conference to being a team that allowed four unanswered goals in the second half and saw virtually all chances of advancing disappear?
The simple part is that, well, playing with 10 men for the second game in a row is much harder than when you’re at full strength. Hey, breaking news, right? But even before Cabal was sent off for his second yellow card after substituting Andrea Cambiaso to prevent him from being sent off, things began to falter long before that. Juventus barely had an answer for Galatasaray in the second half when it was still 11 on 11, with the Bremer-sized hole in Juve’s defense making things even trickier.
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But once that red and yellow snowball at RAMS Park started rolling, Juventus couldn’t stop it. Then Cabal, a player who didn’t look confident in all aspects of his game this season, was sent off and Galatasaray could feel it was time to turn things around even more and take full control of the game, draw the tie and send Juventus into what will likely be their final 90 minutes of European football this season next Wednesday in Turin.
There is no player responsible for this. Cabal certainly played its role, and an important one at that. But this was a team that had the lead at halftime and was falling apart everywhere you looked. In one of the most hostile atmospheres this team will see all season, they gave an absolutely raucous crowd plenty of reasons to celebrate and laugh (or 10) at Juventus’ expense.
We all knew it would be a tough tie when the play-off round draw was first announced. But no one in their wildest dreams could have imagined what really happened on Juve’s first visit to RAMS Park since that infamous 2013 clash involving a horrible pitch and lots of snow.
This time, however, Juve’s horrible performance in Turkiye will be remembered simply for the final score. I don’t want to remember any of that, but this one is going to be very difficult to forget.
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RANDOM THOUGHTS AND OBSERVATIONS
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3-0 defeat against Atalanta in the Coppa Italia.
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A 2-2 draw against a Lazio that was on the verge of achieving victory.
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A 3-2 defeat against Inter in the Derby d’Italia, although with very obvious caveats.
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Now, an embarrassing 5-2 defeat to Galatasaray leaves them with virtually no chance of reaching the last 16 of the Champions League.
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There are 13 goals allowed in the last four games. That’s not good at all, friends.
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Something about a guy called Juan from Colombia who came off the bench in a Champions League game and then received two yellow cards in the second half and was sent off. It’s not the first time. I hope it’s the last one for a long time.
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The complete irony of Cabal being ousted is that he was introduced for the exact reason Spalletti was trying to avoid. Cambiaso was exposed (again) defensively, received a yellow and that’s why he got the hook. All Cabal had to avoid was the one thing Spalletti didn’t want to happen with Cambiaso… and he was sent off 22 minutes after coming on. Sometimes you can’t make these things up.
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Juventus finished with 1.13 xG. As you can imagine, almost all of that happened in the first half.
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Galatasaray had 2.12 xG, in the second half alone. And also with only nine shots. Amazing.
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Four of Gala’s nine shots in the second half were considered Big Changes. It seems bad.
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I won’t criticize Michele Di Gregorio like some will (and will) for allowing some of those goals, but man, it’s a tough situation when this defense feels like it’s living on the edge of a cliff and a goalie doesn’t always seem to be that safety net. He made some really good saves, but you still feel like you need more from him at times.
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That being said, Di Gregorio’s defense was a complete disaster before and after Bremer came out. Just a complete disaster and there’s nothing more to say about it.
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Are we seeing why Federico Gatti doesn’t play much these days? As much as it can be said that he is potentially recovering from his physical problems, it’s not like he’s been that good, not at all! – when he has played since returning a few weeks ago.
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Manuel Locatelli was immense against Inter over the weekend. The same cannot be said for Gala.
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Seriously, two goals from Koopmeiners. Two really nice goals. And they will be completely forgotten by what happened after Juventus took a 2-1 lead.
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I mean, that second Koopmeiners goal was like Atalanta Koopmeiners’. That dismissal of Weston McKennie was fantastic too. The ending was the icing on the cake. Basically it’s something we’ve been waiting for 18 months from Koopmeiners.
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Did any of the five players Spalletti brought off the bench inspire a lot of confidence? Because I’m not really sorry.
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Juan Cabal is another gift from Cristiano Giuntoli that keeps on giving. Thank you, thank you.
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It’s time to add another outing to the list where you’re left wanting more from Chico Conceição on the right wing. Things just aren’t working out much for him these days.
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I dare ask, but I will do it anyway: how many Juventus players will enter the starting lineup that Galatasaray presented on Tuesday? It’s not much, and that’s a big part of the problem.
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Kenan Yildiz’s first game in Turkiye with Juventus will always be associated with this result. It’s very sad for such a wonderful young man. He doesn’t deserve that.
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Juventus, however, deserved everything Gala gave them in this one. Pass on the bourbon even if it’s Tuesday and even very early in the day. There is no way to forget about this no matter how much and quickly you want to.