Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw by Nantes in the first leg of the Europa League play-offs in Turin: here are the initial reactions from the Allianz Stadium.
Dusan Vlahovic’s early opener was not enough for Juventus to seal a victory against the Ligue 1 side. Ludovic Blas levelled the score after the break, while Federico Chiesa and Angel Di Maria hit the crossbar, forcing the Bianconeri to win in France next week to qualify for the Round of 16.
Di Maria, different class
Chiesa and Vlahovic linked up, giving Juventus the lead after 13 minutes, but it was El Fideo who inspired the only goal of the night for the Bianconeri. His through ball for the Italy international broke down Nantes’ defence and the Argentina World Cup winner continued to impress with dribbling and passes that often helped the Serie A giants earn numerical advantage. Unfortunately for Juve, it didn’t last 90 minutes, but every time Di Maria touched the ball, he was able to hide it from the sight of Nantes’ defenders.
Vlahovic scored, but…
The Serbia international scored his ninth goal of the season and it must have been one of the easiest of his career. Chiesa’s pass allowed him to put the ball inside an empty net, but Vlahovic could have offered much more in the game. The ex-Fiorentina star got many passes wrong, especially in the build-up. He did deliver the assist for Chiesa in the second half, but the Italy international was unlucky, hitting the crossbar, the goalline and the post with just one shot.
Juventus played at a slow tempo
The impact was impressive. Juventus scored early and had a few chances to double the lead, but after Vlahovic’s opener, they played with a slow tempo, as Massimiliano Allegri highlighted after the final whistle. The Italian tactician said passes must be quicker and blamed his players for slowing down the tempo after scoring the first goal. He refused to blame the referee for a late VAR check which not led to a penalty kick for the Bianconeri who alternated moments of entertaining football with several minutes of sterile and unfruitful ball possession.
Tops
Adrien Rabiot – Angel Di Maria was the Man Of The Match for the Bianconeri, but Rabiot put in a solid performance in the middle of the park, recovering possession many times and helping Juventus in the build-up.
Federico Chiesa – The Italy winger played on the left flank in a 3-5-2 system, but was always ready to support the attack when needed. He assisted Vlahovic and came inches close to putting Juventus ahead in the second half. Good thing for Juve that he played 90 minutes. Unlucky.
Flops
Leandro Paredes – Juventus were too slow after Vlahovic’s goal and part of the blame is on the PSG loanee who was often hidden in midfield.
Nicolò Fagioli – The work rate was there, but the Italian starlet paved the way for Nantes’ equaliser with a wrong pass on the edge of the French’s box. It is true that one of his teammates should have used a foul to stop the counter-attack, but neither Danilo nor Bremer blocked Nantes’ strikers.
Bremer seems like an expensive buy at this point