Juventus recovers, Porto loses shape

Juventus lost the first leg of the Champions League 1/8 finals for the fourth time in a row.

Having missed each half in the opening, Andrea Pirlo's team made life much more difficult for themselves before the return visit of Portuguese Porto to Turin.

However, Federico Chiesa's ball at the end of the meeting at the Dragau stadium cheered up the Italians and made the pairings acceptable again.

After all, UEFA has not yet canceled the away goal rule.

Whereas the recovery of a number of black-and-white footballers makes it easier for Pirlo to make his personnel and tactical choices.

It was really difficult for the head coach of Juve to form the squad in recent weeks: due to injuries, recovery from operations, disqualifications and suboptimal conditions, whole units fell out of action.

It got to the point that against La Spezia at the beginning of the month Alex Sandro had to close the position of the center-back (21-year-old Gianluca Frabotta played on the left), and on Saturday in the game against Lazio the place on the left side of the defense was taken by the nominal forward Federico Bernardeschi.

To the team's credit, it has overcome the crisis and, after being defeated by Porto, played four unbeaten matches, conceding only twice.

It is curious that Pirlo's team lost points only in the away match with Verona (1: 1), while at home they won exclusively, including the principal rival of Lazio - 3: 1.

As a result, the Italians are in excellent shape for the match against Porto.

And the squad, according to the coach, will strengthen by Tuesday.

“The question of the owner of a ticket to the quarterfinals is still open.

We need to act smartly and clearly, understand what we need to get to the next stage.

This match will be defining for us in the current Champions League.

You need to play technically against a very difficult opponent.

Porto is compact, with almost no free space between the two lines of players.

And they give very little time to think.

In general, technique and patience are our keys to success, ”Pirlo said at a press conference.

Playing a match in Turin also makes life easier for Juventus, as at home stadium only in Serie A, the team wins seven matches in a row.

If we add meetings of the Italian Cup, then the segment without defeats will stretch to double digits.

In addition, at this stage, the Italians have four victories in a row in return matches.

Moreover, the last two were obtained precisely in the arena of black and white and turned into a benefit performance to Cristiano Ronaldo.

All five goals of the team have been scored by Juve's goal scorer.

In 2019, he scored a hat-trick against Atlético (3: 0), and a year later he disappointed Lyon twice (2: 1).

However, the Portuguese are good at restraining such scorers as their compatriot, which they proved in the current Champions League draw.

They didn’t miss for 548 minutes until Chiesa’s precise hit.

However, since then, the “dragons” seem to have been replaced, and in four games that fit between meetings with Juventus, they conceded four goals.

The defense looked especially weak in the confrontation with Braga, which turned out to be not just a defeat with a score of 2: 3, but also the departure of Sergio Conceizao's team from the Cup of the country.

This means that it will definitely not be possible to re-arrange the “golden double”, which Porto achieved last season.

It is unlikely that it will be possible to catch up with Sporting in Primeira, although the dragons in the domestic arena do not know defeats for 16 rounds.

The distance between the giants is ten points, and in a face-to-face meeting at the end of February, the competitors dispersed in a zero draw, even though Porto is the most productive team in the championship (47 goals).

It turns out that the "dragons" with all their might need to cling to the Champions League in order to brighten up the impression of the season and make money.

Only for reaching the quarterfinals, the winner of the pair will receive over € 10 million. And for Porto, which, unlike the Agnelli family, cannot make a top European brand, this is a very significant increase in the budget.

Conceizao also understands this.

But at the same time, he realizes that his charges are not going to Turin at the peak of their ability.

In the last nine official meetings, the Portuguese won only three times.

Moreover, in five cases, they opened an account, gaining a strategic advantage.

However, is there a more pragmatic away team in Europe than the Portuguese?

In 14 games in a row, limited to 90 minutes, they do not lose.

And they do not plan to do this in Piedmont, even if in the away matches of the Champions League playoffs, the "dragons" have not won since the golden season 2003/04.

The optimal squad flew to Turin with the exception of the injured Mohamed Mbaye.

Sevilla is defeated, Borussia reaches the final

In a week and a half, Sevilla lost three matches in a row, which has not happened to them since January 2019.

However, it is premature to call the state of the team a crisis.

Indeed, both in the championship and in the Cup of the country, the Andalusians were inferior to Barcelona, ​​which gained a crazy pace in domestic competitions.

In addition, the return semi-final match of the King's Cup Julen Lopetegui's team ended with nine men: at the end of regular time, Fernando received a red card, and Luc de Jong left the field for a similar reason.

This handicap allowed the Catalans to transfer the match into overtime - in the 94th minute Gerard Pique equalized the total score after a home defeat 0: 2.

And in the added half hour, Martin Bratwaite led the Catalans to the final.

Nevertheless, the Spaniards go to Dortmund without panic or depressive moods.

It is clear that the defeat against Elche on the weekend (1: 2) adds to the team and the coach anxiety.

And the result of the match with Borussia at home is not encouraging: three conceded goals with two goals scored by the favorite pair make it Borussia.

However, Edin Terzic has almost a third of his roster injured, including the key players of each line - Axel Witsel, Giovanni Reina, Manuel Akandzhi, Rafael Guerrero and Jadon Sancho.

Moreover, the last couple were involved in six of the last nine goals of the club.

In addition, Sevilla acts in an exemplary manner on the road in the Champions League 2020/21, never losing.

The fact that her last visit to Dortmund ended with a victory with a minimum score should also add to the mood of the team.

However, Borussia cannot be intimidated by past affairs - it lives with modern realities.

This club is helped by the prodigy Erling Holland, who scored a double in the first match already at the starting ten-minute segment.

By the way, the Norwegian did the same on Saturday, twice upsetting the German champion in the Bundesliga.

Bayern have proved to be more stress-resistant than Sevilla, although they haven't missed a lot since 1977.

The Munich team scored a strong-willed victory thanks to a hat-trick by Robert Lewandowski.

The Spaniards do not have an equally formidable sniper in their squad.

Holland, on the other hand, is determined to continue the argument for the Golden Boot and, for the first time since 2017, take Borussia to the Champions League quarterfinals.

Even the coach of Sevilla paid tribute to the striker on the eve of the meeting:

“We are opposed by Borussia Dortmund - a great team with very good players.

Among them is Holland, a world-class striker.

This is a challenging but interesting challenge.

It is important how you cope with these challenges.

We intend to fight with all our might.

We came here with great desire and enthusiasm, ”Lopetegi stressed.

In 14 of the last 15 UEFA European Cup playoffs, Borussia has moved on if it won the opening match.

At home, the Germans do not know failures in the last six meetings.

This is enough for Terzich's team to realize their strength.

Understanding is reinforced by the recent entry into the German Cup final: having beaten teammates from Mönchengladbach in the minority with a minimum score, Borussia took a big step towards the trophy, which they have not won since 2017.

Success in the Champions League will only confirm the correctness of the course that the team is heading with the onset of spring.