Juventus Women absolutely frustrated favorites Wolfsburg in the first 80 minutes of their Women’s Champions League play-off first-round tie in Germany on Thursday night.
Not only did the Bianconeri take a 2-0 lead on the scoreboard, but they also restricted Wolfsburg, who had reached the final just a few years ago, to almost nothing in the final third. Almost nothing. Juventus’ counter-attacking game plan – which coach Max Canzi tends to employ more often in Europe than in Serie A – will hopefully help them secure victory and give them a big advantage in next week’s decisive second leg at Turin’s J Stadium.
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Then the last 10 minutes and injury time happened. Juventus two goals ahead? Well, it’s gone.
First, Wolfsburg were awarded a penalty on their first shot of the night due to a lengthy VAR review, and then at the last second, Juventus Women’s 2-0 lead evaporated when Sarai Linde scored Golazzo after a failed corner kick clearance, eventually leading to a 2-2 draw. The Bianconeri were clearly at a disadvantage in what looked to be an away upset, against one of the stronger teams trying to reach the quarter-finals in the UWCL play-offs. So instead of leading 2-0 or 2-1, Juventus now have to beat Wolfsburg in Thursday night’s second leg if they want to reach the quarter-finals and face another European giant watching the play-offs at home, Olympique Lyonnais, the team they faced in the UWCL league stage.
The last-second goal, although it looked tough, was a pretty amazing goal. See for yourself…
Yes, that’s a great goal. When you desperately need the ability to make a clearance and then end the game? Not that much, but beating an in-form goalkeeper like Juventus’ Danielle de Jong is certainly one hell of a goal. (Also, De Jong wore the Bianconeri’s away jersey as her goalkeeper jersey on Thursday night. We need more of this, and I’ll never be told anything else.)
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But seeing Wolfsburg score so late at the final whistle was a huge blow to Juventus Women’s performance up to that point. Less than six minutes later, Portuguese forward Ana Capeta received a corner kick from young Spanish defender Estela Carbonell, giving Juventus a 1-0 lead. Portugal striker Ana Capeta was signed ten days ago in the final step to close the winter transfer window and give Canzi more depth up front. They doubled their lead just after the hour mark when Amalie Wangersgaard’s shot took a very friendly deflection around the defense and into Wolfsburg’s goal.
It seemed that both the execution of the game plan and luck were on Juve’s side.
Then, as the final 10 minutes wore on, the tide began to turn towards the home side, with Wolfsburg awarded a penalty after a lengthy VAR check. The ensuing penalty missed De Jong and Juventus’ lead was cut in half. The decision was certainly not as clear-cut as it seemed, as the Bianconeri were at the disadvantage of another crucial VAR call on the European stage.
You be the judge…
Despite having over 70% of the ball, Wolfsburg had only three of their 15 shots on goal that night.
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Unfortunately, two of them ended up being goals.
Staying ahead has been an issue for Canzi’s side this season – something that was exposed again on Thursday when they looked set to return to Turin with a lead in hand. When you consider how they defended for most of the night and really limited Wolfsburg to much of their substance, it certainly looked possible as the minutes wore on.
“Of course, we have a bitter taste in our mouth: we were one step away from victory and we could certainly have done better in the last game of the game, but if you analyze the game, a draw was probably the fairest result,” Canzi said after the draw at Wolfsburg. “This is football, this can happen and I am happy with the performance of my players against such a strong team. Of course, we were one step away from victory and we thought we would get this result, but we have to be good at analyzing this draw correctly.”
While fifth-placed Lazio are on Sunday’s schedule and Juventus Women look to keep pace with league leaders Roma, Canzi will certainly rotate her squad and try to be ready for the second leg against Wolfsburg. Midfielder Lia Wälti was substituted 10 minutes into the second half due to injury and her condition is crucial as she plays a key role in the European competition. But most importantly, adding exciting European moments at the J is still possible.
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They weren’t leading on aggregate as they were for much of Thursday night’s first leg, but now know exactly what they have to do seven days from now to reach the UWCL quarterfinals – just win.
