Juventus comfortably crushed Trabzonspor 2-0 in Turkey and will play Fiorentina in the next Europa League round.
Juventus comfortably crushed Trabzonspor 2-0 in Turkey and will play Fiorentina in the next Europa League round.
The Bianconeri won the first leg 2-0, but were taking no chances after crashing out of the Champions League to Galatasaray in December. Giorgio Chiellini was injured and Andrea Barzagli rested, while Daniel Osvaldo partnered Sebastian Giovinco. Florent Malouda was able to start for the hosts despite a recent injury.
Antonio Conte said Juve wouldn’t just sit back and defend, so it was no surprise after four minutes when Mauricio Isla’s angled drive was deflected off the goalkeeper on to the far post.
Claudio Marchisio then stung Onur Kivark’s gloves for a corner, while Arturo Vidal threatened from a corner and Paul Pogba’s screamer was beaten out from under the bar. It was an extraordinary start from Juve, who wasted another golden opportunity when Isla, Vidal and Osvaldo all had chances to finish off a counter and none of them would take the shot.
A corner wreaked havoc, as Onur Kivrak parried a Leonardo Bonucci toe-poke with his leg, then got back up to turn away Isla’s strike before Federico Peluso eventually bundled it over the line while offside.
The Italians finally made their dominance count, though again it took a few attempts to beat the goalkeeper. Giovinco sparked a give-and-go with Osvaldo to force a save from point-blank range, but Vidal was ready to finish it off on the rebound.
The ball was in the net once more moments later with Osvaldo, but Vidal was ruled offside in the build-up. Isla rolled a dangerous ball across the face of goal that Osvaldo and Giovinco couldn’t get on the end of.
Vidal had another shot charged down in the area, but the goal arrived soon after. Giovinco sprung the offside trap on a Claudio Marchisio ball over the top and flicked the cross back into the middle for Osvaldo’s cushioned header from point-blank range.
It was such a one-sided affair that Conte even substituted Pogba after 37 minutes to rest him for Sunday’s Serie A clash with Milan. Giovinco created another good chance that Vidal failed to knock down effectively for the unmarked Osvaldo.
Giovinco was desperate to top this excellent performance with a goal of his own, but again Onur Kivrak denied him at the base of the near post.
Osvaldo blasted inches over the bar after skipping past Caner Osmanpasa. Osvaldo’s backheel flick set up Simone Padoin, whose shot squirmed under the goalkeeper, but he was able to scramble it clear in a last-ditch intervention.
Giovinco ran on to a pass from the right and fired straight at Onur Kivrak, then the goalkeeper parried a curling Atomic Ant free kick only for Federico Peluso to horribly balloon the follow-up over from six yards.
Yeki tried to test Gigi Buffon from midfield after spotting the goalkeeper off his line, but the captain was ready for it. Ozer Hurmaci also tried from distance and skimmed the upright.
Juventus comfortably shoved Trabzonspor aside 4-0 on aggregate and will face fellow Serie A side Fiorentina in the Round of 16.
Trabzonspor 0-2 Juventus (0-4 on agg)
Scorers: Vidal 18 (J), Osvaldo 34 (J)
Trabzonspor: Onur Kivrak; Bosingwa (Caner Osmanpasa 46), Mustafa Yumlu, Aykut Demir, Kadir Keles (Zeki Yavru 37); Bourceanu; Ozer Hurmaci, Zokora; Olcan Adin, Mierzejewski (Bourceanu 72), Malouda; Janko
Juventus: Buffon; Caceres (Barzagli 57), Bonucci, Ogbonna; Isla, Vidal, Marchisio (Pirlo 72), Pogba (Padoin 37), Peluso; Osvaldo, Giovinco
Ref: Kralovec (CZE)