Juventus 2-1 Borussia Dortmund: Player Ratings
Juventus march into the second leg of the Champions League with a slight advantage, as goals from Carlos Tevez and Alvaro Morata on either side of Marco Reus equaliser gave Juve the upper hand ahead of the second leg fixture at Signal Iduna Park next month. However, Dortmund can take a lot of heart from this game as they got the all-important away goal.
Let us take a look at how the players performed on the night:
Juventus
Gianluigi Buffon - 6/10
Apart from picking the ball from the net once in the first half he virtually had nothing to do in the match. He did his job well when called upon for collecting crosses or clearances.
Stephan Lichtsteiner - 6.5/10
He defended well in his side and offered good support to his attackers on the right side.
Giorgio Chiellini - 6/10
His unfortunate slip allowed Dortmund get the crucial away goal. Apart from that mistake, he looked composed in his defending.
Leonardo Bonucci - 7/10
He formed good partnership with Chiellini and defended well. However, he missed a glorious opportunity with a header from a corner in the first half.
Patrice Evra - 7/10
The former Manchester United full-back looked assured in defending and offered great support on his side to his attackers by regularly surging forward.
Andrea Pirlo - 5/10
With Dortmund players man marking him and closing him down quickly everytime he got the ball, Pirlo initially struggled to play his way from the back, but gradually developed into the game before being taken off with an injury.
Claudio Marchisio - 6/10
He defended well and offered great protection to his centre-halves, but hardly made an impact in the attacking third apart from that great throughball with which he released Pereyra.
Paul Pogba - 7.5/10
He had a very good game on the night. Pogba defended well and linked up admirably with his teammates in the attacking third. He also grabbed the assist for his teams second goal.
Arturo Vidal - 5/10
The Chilean wasn't at his usual level. He regularly gave the ball away, which resulted in the crowd jeering him. However, he defended well.
Carlos Tevez - 7.5/10
A typical Tevez performance. He was full of energy on the night and was a nightmare for Dortmund defenders. His good work was rewarded with a goal.
Alvaro Morata - 8/10
Just like his strike partner, Moratta was a live-wire on the night. He hardly gave a moment peace to Dortmund defenders. It was from his shot-cum-cross, Tevez scored the opener and Morata himself got on the score sheet just before the break.
Substitutes
Roberto Pereyra (37') - 6/10
He wasn't at the same level of his successor Pirlo, nonetheless, he did the required job and was solid in defence. However, he missed a golden chance late in the game to put Juventus on the driving seat.
Simone Padoin (86') - N/A
Hardly anytime to make an impact.
Kingsley Coman (89') - N/A
Hardly anytime to make an impact.
Borussia Dortmund
Roman Weidenfeller - 5/10
Weidenfeller was at the fault for Juve's first goal as he should have deflected Moratta's shot-cum-cross far away from the danger area, rather than letting it stay in the six yard box. Also his handling of crosses wasn't convincing.
Lukas Pizcek -5/10
He struggled defensively and was caught out of position for Juve's opening goal. He was replaced just past the half hour mark with what looks like a serious injury.
Mats Hummels - 6/10
He looked solid at the back and hardly came out of a challenge on the losing side. However, he could have organised the defence better for Juve's second.
Sokratis Papadopoulos - 5/10
He cleared every ball which was thrown at him. However, his positioning was questionable at times in the game. He was taken off at the break.
Marcel Schmelzer - 7/10
He looked solid at defence and offered good width on his side whenever Dortmund went forward.
Nuri Sahin - 6/10
Sahin did his defensive job pretty well and kept the ball moving, but was ineffective in the other end of the field.
Ilkay Gundogan - 6/10
Just like his midfield partner, Gundogan defended and closed down his opponents well, but didn't offer much in the attack.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - 6/10
He was always available on the right side of the pitch and his pace was an useful asset for Dortmund. However, his final ball and decision making let him down, time and again.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan - 5/10
It wasn't a night to remember for Mkhitaryan. He hardly got involved in the play and was anonymous for most of the game. But, he closed down his opponents well.
Marco Reus -7.5/10
Th German international was at the heart of everything Dortmund did well on the night. When Reus was gifted with an opportunity, he took it well to score the crucial away goal.
Ciro Immobile - 6/10
Within the minutes after the kick-off, Immobile hit a fearsome shot just over Buffon's goal. But, that was as good as he came to score in the match. However, he did well as the focal point in attack and closed down the opponents well.
Substitutes
Matthias Ginter (32') - 6/10
He looked initially nervous, but then settled in easily. He was more soild in defence than his predecessor, however he didn't offer much in attack like Pizcek usually odes.
Oliver Kirch (45) - 6/10
He looked comfortable in defence and offered good protection to his defenders.
Jakub B?aszczykowski (76') - 5/10
After coming on for Immobile, he hardly got involved in the game to make an impact in the match.