Moscow (AFP)

Clutched and jostled, Juventus Turin won in the field of play on the field of Lokomotiv Moscow (2-1), qualifying for the 8th finals of the Champions League.

Before the other Group D match between Bayer Leverkusen and Atletico Madrid, Juventus Turin are leading with ten points and can no longer be joined by the third, Lokomotiv Moscow, which has three points. The Russians could see them flying their hopes of qualification in case of a Spanish victory Wednesday night.

As two weeks ago, the Bianconeri have been put in trouble by a strong Russian team that is not great. And like two weeks ago, Maurizio Sarri's men were saved by a player coming off the bench.

In the first leg, it was Paulo Dybala who, with a double in three minutes, gave the victory to Juventus late in the game. This time, it was Douglas Costa who, thanks to an outrageous offensive and a relay with Gonzalo Higuain, concluded with a sharp point between Guilherme's legs to give the victory to his team (2-1, 90e + 3).

A cruel end for the Muscovites, the draw so far seemed flattering for the "Old Lady".

A few minutes before this goal, the Turinese seemed to be close to their first defeat of the season when Leonardo Bonucci had saved a line from Joao Mario (78th), following a Russian action that had seen the midfielder. Polish land of Lokomotiv, Krychowiak, beat his compatriot Szczesny.

The culmination of a Moscow stranglehold on the match, characterized by the permanent threat posed by the two forward forces of the Red and Green: the Russian international Aleksei Miranchuk, author of his second goal in two matches in C1, and the executioner of the Blues in the final of Euro-2016, Eder, very useful in pivot.

Everything had started in the best way for Juventus Turin: on a free-kick of Cristiano Ronaldo, a priori innocuous, the goalkeeper of Lokomotiv Guilherme was guilty of a terrible hand. On the lookout, Aaron Ramsey did not miss the opportunity to push the leather in the goal (1-0, 4th).

Picked cold, the Lokomotiv Moscow could have collapsed. But the Russian club has waited only ten minutes to equalize Aleksei Miranchuk. At the reception of a good center of the former Lyon Maciej Rybus, his head landed on the post of Szczesny but the Russian international, ahead of Bonucci, finished close (1-1, 12th).

From one goal to another, each team had the opportunity to take advantage. Guilherme made forget his initial hand fault by a reflex stoppage on a recovery of Gonzalo Higuain (35th) then a nice parade on a shot from Ronaldo at 20 meters (56th).

On the other hand, the Muscovites regularly put pressure on the Turin goals and, over the minutes, gained more and more confidence. Until the end of Douglas Costa, at the end of the extra time.

© 2019 AFP