Juventus 1-0 Atletico Madrid : 4 Hits and Flops from the game | UEFA Champions League 19/20
Juventus hosted Atletico Madrid on match-day 5 of the 2019-20 Champions League in Turin. The hosts had most of the ball possession in the first half as they constantly tried to break down a resilient Atletico Madrid defence. Juventus were constantly working the ball around. Their attacks were largely concentrated on the flanks.
However, crosses were defended very well by the Atletico Madrid defenders. They won every header against the hosts' strikers. The midfielders did a solid job for Diego Simeone as they shielded the back four. As a result, Juventus were forced to work the ball wide.
The Bianconeri then won a free-kick at the end of the first half in injury time. The angle seemed narrow for a direct shot at goal. Paulo Dybala, however, had other ideas and went for goal and succeeded in giving the home side a well-deserved lead.
Atletico started the second half on a different note. They didn't allow Juventus to play from the back as easily as they did in the first half. Constant pressure was applied by the Spanish side. As a result, the Old Lady misplaced a lot of passes, thereby gifting possession to the Los Rojiblancos.
So, let's take a look at the 4 players who were hits and flops from the game:
#4 Hit: Felipe
The only reason why Juventus weren't ahead by two or three goals at the end of the first half was due to Felipe's defensive master class. He was a constant presence in the box for Atletico and won every cross that came his way. Apart from his aerial presence, the Brazilian was assured in his defending of shots, passes and one on one situations throughout the match.
Atletico were pretty solid defensively throughout the match. During the second half, they played higher up the pitch in search of an equalizer. This resulted in occasional Juventus counter-attacks which were dealt with by Felipe. However, Atletico and Felipe fell to the brilliance of Dybala at the end of the day. The Brazilian won 2 tackles and made 2 clearances along with winning 6 aerial duels.