Cristiano Ronaldo endured a frustrating night as Juventus crashed out of the UEFA Champions League at the hands of FC Porto on Tuesday.
The regulation time proved to be a game of two halves, with FC Porto being the better of the sides in the opening 45 minutes. The visitors were ahead in the second leg by the 19th minute as Sergio Oliveira scored from the spot after Merih Demiral had brought Mehdi Taremi down inside the Juventus box.
The hosts, though, would go on to level things up in the tie courtesy two goals in 15 minutes from Federico Chiesa post the interval. Juan Cuadrado then nearly sealed the deal late on, only to be denied by the crossbar, as the game went into extra-time, and it is here where the tide turned again.
FC Porto made it 2-2 in the 115th minute as Oliveira’s low free-kick beat Wojciech Szczesny. Adrien Rabiot did give Juventus the lead shortly after by nodding in from a corner, but the Bianconeri needed a fourth goal, which never came as they bowed out of the UEFA Champions League in the Round of 16 for a second successive year. The Hard Tackle now runs the rule over Andrea Pirlo’s men.
Wojciech Szczesny: 4/10
While he could not have done much to deny Sergio Oliveira from the spot in the first half, Szczesny will be kicking himself for letting in the Porto midfielder’s free-kick late in extra-time after getting his hand to it. Made 5 saves otherwise, but not the one he should have.
Juan Cuadrado: 9/10
The standout player for Juventus and one of only two who did not really deserve to be on the losing end of the Round of 16 tie against Porto. The Colombian never stopped trying and delivered an astonishing 12 key passes over the course of the game (unsurprisingly the most by any player).
Juan Cuadrado’s game by numbers vs. Porto:
160 touches
32 crosses!!
16 duels won
12 chances created!!
6 take-ons
6 tackles
5 ball recoveries
4 fouls won
3 big chances created
1 assistDidn’t deserve to be on the losing side. #UCL pic.twitter.com/APCH4TjTqF
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) March 9, 2021
Won as many as 16 duels as well and nearly clinched the tie late on in regulation time as well. Feels odd that he only managed to get an assist out of his brilliant efforts and on another day, he could have celebrated a massive haul from such an endeavour.
Merih Demiral: 5/10
Given a chance to impress, Demiral squandered his opportunity as he gave away the penalty quite recklessly by bringing Mehdi Taremi down inside his own box. Otherwise, he defended quite well, winning 5 duels while losing possession just 5 times all game despite attempting as many as 87 passes. The foul for the penalty, though, was a major dampener.
Leonardo Bonucci: 6/10
A reasonably solid performance by Bonucci, who, unlike his partner at the heart of the Juventus defence, did not put much of a foot wrong. While he was not tested a great deal either, the veteran defender did well to win his duels while also making an important block to deny Taremi.
Alex Sandro: 6/10
Despite the fact that Cuadrado ran the show for Juventus, Alex Sandro did see a lot of the ball and played the joint-second highest key passes (3). However, he was a tad bit wasteful with the ball at his feet as well, losing possession a staggering 26 times. Defensively, though, the Brazilian was quite solid, winning most of his duels with Jesus Corona.
Aaron Ramsey: 5/10
A game to forget for Ramsey, who just could not manage to get involved in the proceedings as much as he would have liked. At times, he was too static, which meant he could not open up spaces for his teammates to exploit. 1 key pass is as good as it got for him in the game before he was rightly taken off.
Adrien Rabiot: 6/10
The two Juventus central midfielders were culpable of failing to move things along quickly and Rabiot, in particular, was guilty of playing too many sideways passes in the game. Did play a couple of key passes as the game progressed but could not carve a major opening. Got the late goal with a header to give Juventus some hope, though.
Arthur: 6/10
Back in the starting lineup, Arthur had more touches on the ball than any other player in the game bar Cuadrado (125) while also boasting an excellent passing rate of 96 percent (104/108 completed). Having said that, the Brazilian needed to be more adventurous during build-up play, as a lot of his passes were low risk efforts and he could not up the tempo of the game when needed.
Federico Chiesa: 9/10
One of only two Juventus players who impressed in this match. Chiesa did not have the best of times in the first half, as his crosses never reached the intended target. Turned the tie around after the break, as he first produced a clever finish after receiving the ball from Cristiano Ronaldo before another goal around the hour mark helped restore parity. Did all he could to clinch it for Juventus.
Del Piero to Chiesa: "I want to congratulate you Federico, not only for your performance and goals, but for coming to speak after the game, because you are a young boy, but you already speak like adult, and for being hungry to improve." [Sky] #juvelive pic.twitter.com/QOGf3dhOzd
— Forza Juventus (@ForzaJuveEN) March 10, 2021
Alvaro Morata: 4/10
Morata was the only Juventus player who looked like scoring in the first half, but he was twice thwarted by Agustin Marchesin. Post the interval, though, the Spaniard started fading and a 72 percent pass completion rate did not help matters either.
Cristiano Ronaldo: 5/10
A frustrating night for Ronaldo, who just could not manage to find a way of putting the ball into the back of the net. His exasperation increased with every passing minute and as the minutes ticked by in extra-time, his influence waned dramatically. Did get the assist for the first goal that Chiesa scored, though.
SUBSTITUTES
Matthijs de Ligt: 6/10
On for Bonucci, de Ligt provided a solid presence at the heart of the Juventus defence, winning each of the aerial duels he contested (3/3) while also misplacing just 4 of the 25 passes he attempted. Not to be blamed for the ouster.
Weston McKennie: 5/10
Purely from the perspective of the output from midfield, McKennie was an upgrade on Ramsey as he kept play ticking and even had a couple of shots at goal. However, the USMNT international also gave the free-kick away from which Porto scored the tie-clinching goal.
Dejan Kulusevski: 5/10
On for Arthur, Kulusevski endured a hit-and-miss cameo as he created a couple of half chances but could not get on the end of the openings that came his way. Needs to do better if he is to win his place back.
Federico Bernardeschi: 7/10
A bright spark after being introduced in place of Chiesa. Bernardeschi played 3 key passes – the joint-second most in the game – despite only being on the pitch for 18 minutes. Even got the assist for Rabiot’s goal.
