Porto (Portugal) (AFP)

Juventus Turin preserved, in extremis, its chances of reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League by scoring at the end of the match against FC Porto, winner 2-1 Wednesday in the 8th first leg of C1.

Already beaten this weekend against Napoli in Serie A, Juve were picked cold at the start of the two periods, then they rarely knew how to solve the problems posed by an opportunistic, patient and well-organized FC Porto .

The defensive mistakes of the Old Lady were perfectly exploited by the pair of attackers of the Portuguese team composed of the Iranian international Mehdi Taremi (1st) and the Malian international Moussa Marega (46th), scorers this evening.

Federico Chiesa saved the honor of the Italians by reducing the score at the end of the game with a clear shot that took Marchesin on the wrong foot on a good serve from Adrien Rabiot (82nd).

An away goal that could prove crucial at the end of the second leg on March 9 in Turin.

Before the match, Bianconeri coach Andrea Pirlo compared Porto to Atlético Madrid, winner of Juve in the 8th first leg in 2019 (2-0).

The meeting proved him right, his players having all the trouble in the world to counter the Portuguese pressing very high, and very aggressive.

- Bad starts -

From the 2nd minute of play, pressed very high by Sérgio Oliveira, Rodrigo Bentancur badly adjusted his back pass towards his goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny who was not as quick as Taremi to intercept the ball, leaving the Iranian to tackle the ball in the Turin goals.

At the start of the second half, it only took Cristiano Ronaldo's teammates 18 seconds to concede a second goal: Wilson Manafa was not worried to cross towards Marega in the middle of the box.

The former Amiens player, well launched, adjusted Szczesny, from the left (46th).

When Juve finally managed to regain some control of the match, they found an always compact low block on their way, as Porto boss Sergio Conceiçao had wanted before the meeting.

It was not until the end of the first period to see the Old Lady get her first real opportunity, when Rabiot slammed a little academic return deflected by Marchesin, the Porto goalkeeper, on a free kick from Bentancur (41st).

- Ronaldo muzzled -

Back in Portugal in a stadium that had seen him score an incredible goal earning him the very first Puskas goal of the year award in 2009 under the colors of Manchester United, Ronaldo, too isolated and rarely served well, did not had the slightest opportunity to shine.

For his reunion with Pepe after several years spent together at Real Madrid, the five-time Ballon d'Or was deprived of spaces and always well followed by the defenders of Porto.

Despite Chiesa's goal that ended Porto's five-game streak without scoring a Champions League goal, Juventus couldn't stop the Dragons from securing their first victory over the Bianconeri in European competitions.

She will have to cling to this achievement of the Italian international if she does not want to leave the competition at the same stage as last year, eliminated by Olympique Lyonnais.

© 2021 AFP