Juventus Roll Back the Years with Vintage European Performance

It was a Juventus performance that echoed glorious European nights of years past.

The Old Lady had never lost to Manchester City in a Champions League game. Granted they’d only met twice before in the competition, but Juve had a 100% win ratio against their financially stronger opponents.

The perfect ratio is still intact.

It was arguably Juve’s greatest performance of the Thiago Motta era, one filled with defensive solidity, intensity when needed and, above all, a killer touch.

The latter has been lacking in The Old Lady in the early months of Motta’s reign. Juve had taken less shots than they had at the same a year ago under Massimiliano Allegri, and Dusan Vlahovic ranks third for big chances missed in Serie A this season.

The feeling was that Juve were all very nicey nicey, but ultimately lacking the ruthlessness of teams gone by. That wasn’t the case against City.

Motta had faith in many of the same players that stuttered in the 2-2 draw against Bologna last weekend. In fact, his only change came due to Andrea Cambiaso’s injury against the Rossoblu, forcing Danilo to play at left-back and bringing in Nicolo Savona on the right.

Pep Guardiola and Motta have history.

Both men graduated through Barcelona’s academy and cast your mind back to the epic 2010 Champions League semi-final between Barcelona and Inter Milan in Camp Nou.

It was Motta who was sent off for a flailing hand on Sergio Busquets’ face within the opening half hour of the second leg that prompted the Spanish midfielder to fall to the floor holding his face, amid the odd peek between the cracks of his fingers to see referee Frank De Bleeckere’s decision. 

Post-game, Motta branded Busquets behaviour as ‘terrible’. Yet the midfielder got the last laugh as Inter produced one of the great defensive displays of the decade to advance 3-2 on aggregate and reach the final.

Jose Mourinho’s celebration in an all-black suit, shirt and tie combination remains as iconic now as it was then.

Leading into the game, Guardiola was all praise for Motta and urged Juve to have patience in the wake of indifferent results. “You see what Thiago is trying to do,” he said. 

“He did an incredible job in Bologna. All the managers need time. Hopefully, Juventus board can give it to him this time to create what he wants to do.”

Both managers were under pressure, in truth. Motta’s Juve couldn’t buy a win, drawing nine league games from 15, while Guardiola’s relentless winning machine has spluttered in the last few months, with only a single win of their own from the last nine.

Moreover, both sides were in the bottom half of the mammoth Champions League table. This was a game neither could afford to lose.

As the Allianz Stadium crackled and fizzled, there was a tense sense of occasion in the Piedmont air that’s been lacking in European nights over the past couple of years.

And Juve rose to the challenge.

There is no Giorgio Chiellini, no Ciro Ferrara and no Fabio Cannavaro at the heart of the Bianconeri defence these days, but there is Federico Gatti. The man who was working on a building site no less than five years ago produced a colossal performance in defence. 

Echoing shades of Chiellini, Gatti threw himself at everything, and even took the odd wander up the pitch when the time was right.

Gatti was at the heart of Juve’s opener, when he reached a loose ball before Kevin De Bruyne deep in his own half and decided to charge up the pitch. His bicycle kick from Manuel Locatelli’s cross was the stuff of comic books, an inch or two to Ederson’s left and the attempt would’ve gone down as one of the great Juve goals in Europe. 

The word masterclass is thrown around too much in the current age, but Juve’s defensive solidity against City harkened back to the days of the fabled ‘BBC’, when Leonardo Bonucci, Andrea Barzagli and Chiellini — backed by Gianluigi Buffon — represented the sternest test for a striker in the European game.

City were restricted to shots from outside the box, while Erling Haaland was denied by Michele Di Gregorio, who also produced a marvellous save from Ilkay Gundogan in the second half. Juve constantly forced City out side while keeping Haaland contained inside the box, and Guardiola’s men had no answers.

Pierre Kalulu, Savona, Danilo and Gatti all produced outstanding performances, and while this isn’t Motta’s first-choice backline if all players were fit, you wouldn’t have known any different. 

In midfield, Locatelli and Khephren Thuram kept things composed while also tracking City’s midfielders and digging in defensively. Teun Koopmeiners was arguably Juve’s worst performer on the night, with the Dutchman still unsure of himself in Motta’s 4-2-3-1 system. 

In attack, Kenan Yildiz and Francisco Conceicao buzzed on either side, with the Portuguese youngster in particular again showing why Juve will sign him outright at the earliest opportunity. Yildiz, meanwhile, produced a first touch and run in the first half so good it made Manchester United legend Paul Scholes take to Instagram to ask: “Who the fuck is this Yildiz…” followed by clapping hands emoji.

Juve’s second of the night had a very American flavour to it, with Timothy Weah teeing up Weston McKennie for a superb first-time volley. 

So what changed between Bologna and City? The simple truth is that the Premier League champions took the game to Juve, and the home side exploited the gaps at the right time. In Serie A, this doesn’t happen often, and the Bianconeri still struggle to break teams down who sit deep. 

This is an issue for Motta to figure out in due course. But for now, this was a vital victory for Juve, and gives the club a chance of qualifying for the Round of 16 without the need to go through a play-off and adding two more games on to an-already bloated calendar. 

The victory also calms supporter discontent and gives him the time needed to fine tune his iteration of The Old Lady. 

Can they replicate the performance against Venezia on Saturday night? You wouldn’t bet on it.