Juventus staged a superb revival to battle back from two
goals down and rescue their Champions League hopes
with a 2-2 draw against Bayern Munich in their last 16
first leg in Turin on Tuesday.
Thomas Mueller pounced on a deflected cross to put the
visitors ahead in the 43rd minute and Dutchman Arjen
Robben doubled the lead early in the second half as the
2013 champions took control of the tie.
The Italians looked dead and buried after an hour with
the Germans having close to 70 percent possession and Juve desperately waiting
for a rare chance to break.
Yet last season's finalists, who have been in superb form in recent months,
staged a scintillating comeback.
Paulo Dybala scored in the 63rd minute and substitute Stefano Sturaro levelled
with 14 minutes remaining to leave all to play for in the second leg after a
frustrating finish for the Germans.
"We can live with this result and return home having a good starting position for
the second leg," Bayern captain Philipp Lahm told reporters.
"Juventus are a good team but it was our own mistakes that got them back in the
game. We played great for an hour."
Bayern shot out of the blocks in search of a quick goal and were almost rewarded
when former Juve player Arturo Vidal's powerful volley forced 38-year-old keeper
Gianluigi Buffon to palm his effort round the post.
Mueller then missed an excellent chance when he failed to tap in from two
metres after being teed up by Robert Lewandowski's superb assist.
The Germany international, however, proved why he is such a prolific goalscorer,
when he was in the right place to slot in from 10 metres for his sixth goal in
seven Champions League matches this season, after Juve failed to clear a ball in
the box.
Robben doubled their lead 10 minutes after the restart with his first goal of the
year, a trademark move by the Dutch winger, who cut inside from the right and
curled a left-footed effort into the net.
Dybala, however, made the most of a bad clearance by Bayern to beat Manuel
Neuer on the hour and inject new life into the game and trigger a frantic Juve
search for an equaliser.
Juan Cuadrado almost got it minutes later but Neuer calmly stood his ground to
block the Colombian's shot. The keeper, however, could do nothing when Sturaro
beat his marker to slide in and level.
"We knew it would have been tough, but I think we did well tonight," Dybala said.
"We gave everything we had, and we never gave up. It is going to be very difficult
in Munich, but we know that we can make it with our heart, especially if we play
like we did in the second half tonight."
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Tuesday, 23 February 2016
Juve stage two-goal comeback to draw
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