Juventus-Galatasaray 3-2
GOALS: 37′ Locatelli (R), 25′ st Gatti, 36′ st McKennie, 16′ pts Osimhen, 13′ sts Baris Yilmaz.
JUVENTUS (4-2-3-1): Perin 6; Kalulu 6.5 (3′ sts Openda 5.5), Gatti 7, Kelly 5.5, McKennie 7; Thuram 6.5 (33′ sts Adzic 5), Locatelli 6.5 (3′ sts Kostic 6); Conceiçao 5.5 (22′ pts Zhegrova 5), Koopmeiners 6.5, Yildiz 7.5 (12′ pts Miretti 6); David 5 (22′ st Boga 6). On the bench: Di Gregorio, Pinsoglio, Bremer, Gil, Rizzo. Coach: Spalletti 7.
GALATASARAY (4-2-3-1) – Ugurcan Cakir 6; Sallai 5.5 (13′ st Boey 6), Sanchez 5.5, Abdulkerim Bardakci 5.5, Jakobs 5.5 (42′ st Eren Elmali 6); Torreira 5.5 (12′ pts Singo 6), Lemina 5 (42′ pts Icardi 5.5); Lang 5.5 (13′ st Sané 5.5), Gabriel Sara 5.5 (25′ st Gundogan 5.5), Baris Yilmaz 6.5; Osimhen 6.5. On the bench: Batuhan Sen, Gunay Guvenc, Yunus Akgun, Ahmed Kutucu, Asprilla, Kaan Ayhan. Coach: Okan Buruk 5.5.
Referee: Joao Pinheiro (Por) 4.
NOTES: clear evening, terrain in perfect condition. Osimhen, Kelly, Yildiz, Sallai, Pinsoglio (from the bench), Gabriel Sara, Ugurcan Cakir are booked. Kelly was sent off in the 2nd minute for a second yellow card. Corners 9-4. Recovery: 5′, 5′, 2′, 1′
Juventus’ heart is enormous, but the feat is only very close: Galatasaray loses 3-2 but qualifies for the Champions League round of 16, the Bianconeri come out with their heads held high. In addition to the three goals to recover from Istanbul, after the 2-5 in the first leg, Spalletti’s team also plays the second half with 10 men due to Kelly’s expulsion. But the elimination only came in extra time, after the 90 minutes had ended with an incredible 3-0 which had reopened the games. Bremer and Yildiz are recovered, the Turk also starts: the Juventus number 10 completes the trident with Conceicao and David, in midfield there are the usual Thuram and Locatelli as well as Koopmeiners.
Spalletti’s novelty is represented by the left back, where McKennie is there to make up for the absences of Cambiaso and Cabal due to disqualification. Galatasaray is very similar to the one seen in the first leg, the novelty is represented by the returning Lemina: Buruk chooses the former Juve player to join Torreira in the midfield two, Sara advances to the three-quarter line and Osimhen is always the offensive reference. The Stadium pushes the Bianconeri hard, Gatti and Koopmeiners open the match with two excellent chances but their headers from a good position go over. The ex-Naples Nigerian, however, immediately appears very nervous, and after the sparks with Gatti he is booked for a late and messy entry on McKennie. In the penalty area, however, he is always fearsome and his right-footed shot forces Perin to volley it away for a corner. Cakir is also called into action, Locatelli tries from distance and the goalkeeper is not surprised. Juve looks for a goal to reopen the qualification discussion, the episode happens in the 36th minute: Torreira brings down Thuram and referee Pinheiro awards the penalty, Locatelli wrong-foots the goalkeeper and lights up the Stadium.
The Turks begin to play with the clock, the Juventus bench loses patience due to the various wastes of time and the third goalkeeper Pinsoglio, who is booked, pays the price. Spalletti and Buruk didn’t change anything during the interval, but the match suffered another shock: Kelly jumped and, falling, ended up on Yilmaz’s ankle, Pinheiro booked the black and white for the second time and then at VAR he transformed the red card for a double yellow card into a direct expulsion. The numerical inferiority does not discourage Juve, the coach inserts Boga and Zhegrova for David and Conceicao and his team finds the double which fuels their hopes with Gatti’s tap-in. The Bianconeri believe it, Thuram gets right in front of Cakir but risks a lob that ends up high. And the opportunity in the 79th minute was even more enormous, when Boga crossed and Yildiz on the second split hit the inside post. The 3-0 arrives shortly after, Zhegrova’s free kick finds the edge of Koopmeiners and the head of McKennie to dramatically put everything back on equal terms. In the five added time, Yilmaz on one side and Yildiz had opportunities to close the match in regular time, but they failed and we went to extra time with Zhegrova who after 5′ literally devoured the poker that would have closed the match. Osimhen, however, does not grace Perin and in the 104th minute gives Galatasaray the goal that cuts off Juve’s legs and brings the Turks back to the round of 16. The Stadium shuts down, Zhegrova and substitute Kostic do not exploit the ball which would have led to penalties, the comeback is only savored, at the end of the second extra time on the counterattack Gala’s second goal also arrives, with Ylmaz. Juve exits the Champions League in the play-offs like last year. On Sunday, in the capital in the capital against Roma, a play-off will be played for the next edition.