09 December 2020
Juventus Women will have to beat Lyon next week if they are to reach the next round of the Women's Champions League after slipping to a 3-2 defeat in the first leg of their last-32 encounter at Allianz Stadium.
However, the Bianconere will head to France confident they can give the reigning champions a game after more than holding their own in today's first leg, twice getting their noses in front before Lyon completed the turnaround late on.
THE MATCH
Lyon wasted little time in setting out their stall and Laura Giuliani had to produce a great save to keep out Gunnarsdottir's header with just a minute on the clock.
That might have heralded a nightmare afternoon for the Bianconere but they grew into the game with each passing minute. They gave the champions a scare on the quarter-hour mark when Caruso played in Girelli and she in turn picked out Lina Hurtig with a fabulous pass, but the Swede could only hit the side netting.
There was more to come, though, and three minutes later the hosts were in front. Barbara Bonansea sent over an inch-perfect cross for Hurtig to head past Bouhaddi and give Juve a dream start.
The goal sparked a reaction from Lyon and Giuliani did well to thwart Cascarino in the 23rd minute, then five minutes later the visitors were awarded a penalty for a foul by Bonansea on the edge of the box. Giuliani went the right way but couldn't keep out Renard's spot kick and the scores were level.
Juve picked themselves straight back up and set about playing their game again. The French side were leaving a few gaps at the back and Hurtig might have scored her second when she found herself one on one with Bouhaddi but couldn't finish.
Hurtig made up for it shortly afterwards as her probing delivery in the 37th minute was turned into the net by Buchanan to send Guarino's girls in 2-1 up at the interval.
Juve began to tire after the restart and the champions gradually asserted themselves, especially after Melvine Malard came on. The French youngster restored parity midway through the second period as she took advantage of a defensive mix-up.
Not content with a draw, Malard then went and provided the killer pass for Kumagai to score the winner two minutes from time to dash Juve's hopes of securing a positive first-leg result.
The Bianconeri nonetheless will be pleased with their overall performance. They certainly looked the part and will travel to France next week determined to give the the seven-times winner a run for their money.
STEFANO BRAGHIN
“It was a great game. We gave everything we had out there. It’s a great tribute to the players who may have even gone above and beyond their limits. There’s a long path ahead of us, but we’ve come so far already. The result is a shame and maybe a draw would’ve been a fairer outcome, but we come away from it knowing that through improving, we’ll be able make an impact. We’ll only be able to reduce the gap by playing in these types of game frequently.”
RITA GUARINO
“The result is a shame and the girls deserved a draw at least. We prepared for the game by analysing Lyon’s characteristics and trying to take the necessary measures to nullify them, knowing that they’d also give us some space. That’s how it went. In the second half, our level did drop physically. Now we turn our attention to Roma.”
