UCL: 10-man Juventus secure maximum points to continue fine run

Juventus have continued their perfect record in the UEFA Champions League as they made an incredible come to defeat RB Leipzig on matchday two.

The Turin club were down to ten men and had to come from 2-1 down in Germany to secure a stunning 3-2 Champions League victory with Dusan Vlahovic’s brace and a Francisco Conceicao solo effort.

The Bianconeri went into the Matchday two clash on the back of a 3-1 win over PSV Eindhoven in their opening match of the European club’s prestigious tournament, while the German hosts lost their opener 2-1 against Atletico Madrid in a game they also went ahead.

The first real chance came the way of the Germans after four minutes when Lois Openda shrugged off Gleison Bremer to roll across for a panicked Pierre Kalulu clearance. The Brazilian would play his last, having turned his ankle and knee during the incident, and had to be replaced by Federico Gatti.

The visitors suffered further injury blow moments when Nico Gonzalez had to be replaced due to a thigh issue. The scorer of the winning, Francisco Conceicao, came into his place, and the Italian giant left Germany with maximum points.

Having lost two players and used up two substitution slots within 12 minutes, Juventus couldn’t settle into the clash, and RB Leipzig took the lead with a sensational goal. Openda’s inspired ball over the top found Sesko to control with the right foot, let it bounce, and volley in with the left off the underside of the crossbar, giving Michele Di Gregorio no chance to score against an opponent that had conceded just two goals this season before they got their second.

The referee waved away penalty appeals from Juventus on 38 minutes when Vlahovic appeared to be caught late by Castello Lukeba on the Weston McKennie assist. VAR also reviewed the incident and decided not to take any further action.

Juve came out fighting for the restart as they searched for the leveler. Teun Koopmeiners thumped the far post on a McKennie assist when he really should’ve done better.

Juventus eventually restored parity moments later as Andrea Cambiaso’s cross from the left saw Vlahovic sneak in front of his marker to sweep in at the near post.

Leipzig had a chance to regain the lead, but Openda’s solo effort was smacked against the upright. Moments later, the Belgian striker was going clear on goal when Di Gregorio came sprinting outside the box, and his glove just grazed the ball.

Following a VAR review, the goalkeeper was shown a red card for stopping the clear scoring opportunity as the visitors had to battle with ten men.

Leipzig eventually made things worse for their visitors when they regained the lead from the penalty spot from the resulting free kick. 

Douglas Luiz, with his first touch of the game, charged down with his arm while trying to protect his face from Xavi Simons, making the referee award a penalty following the VAR review, and Sesko converted the spot-kick.

10-man Juventus eventually leveled matters with a remarkable solo strike from Vlahovic, who bent the vicious finish into the top corner from distance.

This left the game open as Openda again hit the base of the upright, and Pierre Kalulu’s sliding block prevented Nusa from scoring on the Simons’ assist.

Juventus then turned it around to lead 3-2 when Francisco Concepcion dribbled past David Raum and bent the finish into the far bottom corner from the tightest of angles a few minutes to the end of regulation time.

Leipzig poured forward in search of an equalizer, but Sesko got no power behind his finish from 10 yards, which was straight at Mattia Perin.

Juventus secured the maximum points as they held on through 10 minutes of added time for an extraordinary victory and have six points from two Champions League games.