VIDEO Juventus 3-0 (5-1) Borussia Dortmund Highlights, Goals: Tevez Brace Carries Old Lady To Quarterfinals
Holding more than true to their pre-match promises, Carlos Tevez unleashed a goal within the first three minutes and Juventus went on to claim a 5-1 aggregate victory over Borussia Dortmund after Wednesday’s Champions League second leg at Signal Idula Park.
Repeating their scoring efforts in the first leg, Tevez picked up his second brace of the tournament with goals in the third and 79th minutes, Alvaro Morata got on the board with a goal in the 71st off an unselfish Tevez assist, and Juventus went on to win the second leg, 3-0.
Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri pledged his side wouldn't sit back on the laurels of their 2-1 first leg victory, with the Old Lady only needing to keep Dortmund from scoring at all.
Juventus punched their ticket to the last eight for third time in the last four years, and their defensive efforts should be given just as much praise as Tevez’s strikes.
Manager Jurgen Klopp said prior to the match his team needed an “exceptional” play to beat the first-place Serie A squad, and they largely came up empty. Despite holding a 57-43 possession advantage, Dortmund could only register two total shots on target.
Juve’s Patrice Evra and his hustle would prove the difference early on. The Frenchman regained possession in Dortmund’s area and found some open space for Tevez, who struck a beautiful curving ball with a right-footed shot outside the penalty area to the top left corner past helpless keeper Roman Weidenfeller.
Later, with Tevez all alone and charging to the Dortmund net, Morata trailed his teammate to accept the slick assist for his second goal of the tournament, a right-footed strike to the bottom left corner of the net,
Weidenfeller all but singlehandedly kept Dortmund’s minuscule hopes alive, coming up with two saves including a two-handed block of a dangerous attempt by Morata in the 55th minute following a deep winding run by midfielder Roberto Pereyra.
But Pereyra would get his assist on the day a little later to connect Tevez’s brace. The Argentine capped the day with another surgical right-footed strike in the 79th, taken inside Dortmund’s penalty area and tucked well to the left of Weidenfeller's reach.
The victory wasn’t all flowers for Juventus, with star midfielder Paul Pogba limping off in the 27th minute following a collision and replaced by Andrea Barzaglin almost immediately. An apparent hamstring injury, its unknown how sever the knock is, but Allegri and Juventus can ill afford to lose the Frenchman with Andrea Pirlo already hurt before the final knockout phases of the tournament.
© Copyright IBTimes 2024. All rights reserved.