Juventus fumble the second half as PSV knocks them out of the Champions League

Seven years ago, my Philadelphia Eagles were getting ready to play in Super Bowl LII.

The task before them was daunting: defeating the Tom Brady/Bill Belicheck New England Patriots at the height of their second dynastic period.

Just a year before, the Atlanta Falcons had come as close as anyone had to taking the Pats down — but ended up on the receiving end of the most epic collapse in Super Bowl history. Part of the reason why: the Falcons, and especially their offensive coordinator and playcaller, Kyle Shanahan, got timid. As the Patriots inched back into the game, they started playing it safe instead of playing the way they had the entire year.

Seeing Atlanta paying that price the year before, Eagles coach Doug Pedersen clearly went into the big game intent on avoiding a similar trap. A riverboat gambler his entire coaching stint to that point with the Eagles — so much so that he had earned an alliterative nickname regarding certain parts of his anatomy that one ought not repeat on a family web site—Pedersen never for a second changed how he did business.

The result was one of the best Super Bowl coaching performances of all time, including calling the legendary Philly Special late in the first half and going for a fourth down earlier than many would have expected him to in the fourth quarter on a drive that would lead to the game-winning score.

Why am I telling this story of the NFL in an article that’s supposed to be dedicated to the other football? Because after Juventus crashed out of the Champions League against PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday night, I sincerely hope that Thiago Motta learns Doug Pedersen’s lesson.

Motta’s task going into the second leg of the Champions League playoff round was a simple one: avoid defeat, and their 2-1 advantage from the first leg would carry them into the round of 16. But Motta and his system isn’t built for avoiding defeat. It’s built for taking the game to the opponent.

Except that’s not really how things went. While Juve went into the half legitimately able to say they’d largely controlled proceedings, they had been set up to absorb PSV’s pressure and attack on the counter. It was the kind of reactive play that Motta had been hired to put an end to, and in the second half the strain proved too much. A couple of bad bounces helped, too, but at the end of the day Juve hadn’t played well enough — or been set up well enough — to be able to make their own luck.

The result was a 3-1 defeat on the night that put PSV through 4-3 on aggregate, and left Motta and his charges with thinking to do as they left their first continental competition together.

Motta was forced into one change from the first leg after losing Douglas Luiz to a muscle strain a week ago, and chose to make another. Also unavailable were Pierre Kalulu and Arkadiusz Milik. Michele Di Gregorio anchored the 4-2-3-1, protected by Timothy Weah, Federico Gatti, Renato Veiga, and Lloyd Kelly. Teun Koopmeiners replaced Luiz next to Manuel Locatelli, while Francosco Conceição, Weston McKennie, and Nico González supported Randal Kolo Muani in attack.

PSV manager Peter Bosz also kept his lineup relatively unchanged, with only one alteration to his own 4-2-3-1 from the first leg. Still missing were Malik Tillman and leading scorer Ricardo Pepi, while Guus Til and Rick Karsdorp could only start from the bench. However, he got Olivier Boscagli back from injury, and he joined the back line alongside center-back partner Ryan Flamingo and full-backs Richard Ledezma and Mauro Júnior to protect keeper Walter Bentítez. Jerdy Schouten and Joey Veerman played in the pivot. Ivan Perisic, Ismael Saibari, and Noa Lang supported the venerable Luuk de Jong in attack.

Predictably, PSV came out of the gates like the field at the Kentucky Derby. Juve were able to repel this early surge fairly well, but proceedings came to a halt with just shy of 10 minutes on the clock when Veiga came up to the center line to play a long pass from the keeper, only to come up gimpy from the challenge and, after a couple of seconds, drop to the ground. He was grabbing an area of his heel that rather alarmingly suggested an Achilles injury. While he thankfully walked off under his own power and is reportedly being evaluated for a muscular injury, he still had the look of a man who knew that something was wrong. Andrea Cambiaso was scrambled from the bench to replace him, kicking Kelly inside to the center alongside Gatti.

Frustrating as losing the Portuguese defender was, the stoppage seemed to have interrupted PSV’s initial surge of momentum, and Juve began to slowly pull themselves into the game. In the 16th minute, Weah set up the game’s first shot by playing a gorgeous give-and-go with Conceição to set up an equally lovely cross. It found Kolo Muani unmarked, but the striker wasn’t able to get over the ball and popped it over the bar. A few minutes later, PSV registered their first shots, with Kelly blocking an effort from Lang and Perisic blasting over on the rebound.

As the half wore on, the visitors gained more and more control over proceedings. On the half-hour Locatelli found Cambiaso in the channel with an excellent pass, but Benítez repelled his shot on the turn. Four minutes later, Koopmeiners nearly put Kolo Muani clean through into the box, but Flamingo got a glancing touch to it that allowed Benítez to get out of his goal and get a touch to Kolo Muani’s shot.

The teams went into the locker room still deadlocked on the night. Juve weren’t quite in cruise control seeing as how they were still led the tie by one, but most certainly in command of proceedings, and it felt like a state that they could maintain going forward.

But the hosts used the break to regroup and unleash another onslaught to start the second half, and this time it looked a little more difficult for Juve to respond. PSV quickly registered their first shot on target within three minutes when Perisic tried the same move that got him a goal last week, but Di Gregorio quickly recognized it and got in front of the shot.

Kolo Muani got the opportunity to practically put the tie to bed shortly after that when McKennie dropped a perfect long ball into the left channel for him, but Benítez was able to get down for a parry. It was a miss he would rue, as PSV finally landed their first blow less than two minutes later.

It came off a lightning counterattack started by Mauro Júnior. He sent Lang down the field, who cut inside of Gatti and slotted a diagonal pass to Perisic in the box. The Croatian was several steps ahead of González when he received the pass and slotted it across Di Gregorio and just inside the post from seven yards out.

The goal tied up the aggregate and revved up the Dutch side even more. Two minutes later, Lang curled about a foot wide after Locatelli gave the ball away, and two after that Perisic hit one through a crowd but right at Di Gregorio. At the hour mark, Gatti had to leap into the path of a header from De Jong off a corner to clear it off the line.

But in a flash, Juve looked as though they had managed to flip the tie on its head again. Koopmeiners sent a free kick into the box, and after the initial ball was rejected Weah flashed into the frame and hit a frozen rope from the top of the penalty arc that streaked into the net. Weah reeled off to celebrate, only to pull up mystified when the assistant’s flag went up. The call had been against Kelly, who had been in an offside position on the initial ball. However, it was apparent pretty quickly that the ball had flown over his head before it was cleared and that he’d taken no part in the action. Referee Slavko Vincic was called to the monitor, and when he returned signaled for the goal.

Photo by Rene Nijhuis/MB Media/Getty Images

Within two minutes of the restart Juve forced a turnover and dashed downfield, but Conceição held the ball too long and PSV were able to clear a cross from Weah to keep themselves in the tie. But apart from that Juve were still playing on the defensive, and PSV were able to start building up some more momentum as they searched for another aggregate equalizer.

It came after 10 minutes. Locatelli had rejected one cross attempt by Guus Til, but couldn’t get to the second by Perisic. Kelly was laser-focused on the ball and was completely ignorant of de Jong behind him. The ball came in at an awkward height and came off de Jong’s thigh and then his chest. He actually missed his attempt at a shot, but from there the ball bounced right into the path of Saibari, who got to the ball a step ahead of a sprawling Di Gregorio to put it into the net. A quick VAR check was made to see if the ball had hit de Jong in the arm, but no review was needed, and the tie was level again.

Motta finally decided to alter things in the aftermath of the goal, sending on a trio of players but positioning them in curious fashion, moving Cambiaso into midfield alongside Khephren Thuram and keeping Weah in the back along with Nicolò Savona. The changes didn’t tell right away, and PSV kept pushing for a winner. De Jong got away from Kelly again for a free header that he put over, while Saibari was put into a dangerous position deep in the box only to overrun the ball and fail to get a shot off.

In the game’s final moments Motta summoned Dusan Vlahovic for Kolo Muani, and halfway through the seven minutes of stoppage time the big Serb was almost put through the defense by Yildiz, but the pass was repelled at the last second.

Extra time was now in the offing, and PSV continued to play the aggressor. Di Gregorio needed an incredible save only three minutes into the extra period to stop Saibari from point blank range.

But the final blow wasn’t long in coming.

A free kick from Veerman got to Johan Bakayoko at the back end, and when he put the ball back across Gatti stabbed at it. It’s hard to tell if he was trying to put the ball behind or control it for himself, but it trickled away and a startled Di Gregorio couldn’t sort his body out in time and could only manage to tap it to the feet of Flamingo, who reacted quickly and tapped it in to turn things completely around.

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Finally required to open the stops and chase the game, it took Juve a few minutes to turn the gears, but soon Savona flipped a header toward goal that was held by Benítez, then with the last kick of the first half of extra time Samuel Mbangula launched a gorgeous cross for the back post that Vlahovic put on a burst to get through the defenders and put it on goal, but he could only nudge it onto the post.

Juve tried to pile on the pressure in the second half and managed a couple of opportunities. A series of quick passes put González into a shooting position, but Armando Obispo managed to block the attempt. González tried going on a coast-to-coast dribble a few minutes later but was dispossessed before he could act, even though he had Vlahovic as an option. Less than 60 seconds later, Thuram charged through the PSV defense and into the box, but blasted his effort over the bar.

That was Juve’s last real chance. It was Di Gregorio who had to make the last save of the game, stonewalling Til in the last seconds of regular time before stoppages. A few easily-defended crosses later, Vincic’s whistle sealed Juve’s fate.

LE PAGELLE

MICHELE DI GREGORIO – 5.5. Made some big saves in the second half, but his extra-time fumble was incredibly costly, which drives down his grade considerably.

TIMOTHY WEAH – 7. Absolutely everywhere. He had a pair of key passes, led the team with six tackles (two more than any other player on either side). Oh, and there was that goal. Jeez, when he hits them he HITS THEM. Incredible shot that no one on God’s green earth would ever save.

FEDERICO GATTI – 6.5. That indecisive bobble in extra time was unfortunate, but otherwise he had a very good game. He was everywhere in the box and racked up a whopping 13 clearances.

RENATO VEIGA – NR. It’s good to hear that the expectation is that his injury isn’t as bad as it looked. Here’s hoping he gets back quickly.

LLOYD KELLY – 5. Continues to be shaky. Racked up 12 clearances and made a few good interventions, but he was also blatantly ball-watching on PSV’s second goal and left de Jong completely alone.

MANUEL LOCATELLI – 5.5. Made some good defensive interventions but didn’t handle the ball well, which was uncharacteristic for him this season. Only attempted 25 passes and only completed 18 of them. In a game where a few line-breaking passes were needed from the tournament’s leader in the category thus far, they didn’t arrive.

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TEUN KOOPMEINERS – 5. Kudos for playing ill if that was the case, but another rough performance from the Dutchman, who attempted even fewer passes than Locatelli and whose only real impact was defensively with six tackles.

FRANCISCO CONCEIÇÃO – 5.5. Was second on the team with four tackles, which tells you pretty much all you need to know about what foot Juve was on in this game. It was nice to see him picking up his head and moving the ball more than usual, but he didn’t create anything on his own.

WESTON McKENNIE – 6. Made a pair of key passes, including that excellent ball over the top for Kolo Muani. Made three tackles defensively and dropped back into the pivot in extra time.

NICO GONZÁLEZ – 5. Did a lot of huffing and puffing and dribbling (a team-high five) but his end product was nowhere. Didn’t find the target with four shots and didn’t create anything directly either.

RANDAL KOLO MUANI – 5.5. Didn’t get a whole ton of service, but he also had at least two chances that he should’ve done more with, one in each half.

SUBS

ANDREA CAMBIASO – 6. Made four dribbles and forced Benítez into a sharp save on the half-hour. Didn’t have the stamina to finish out extra time coming off his injury.

NICOLÒ SAVONA – 5.5. An improvement over Inter, although he still had the shaky moment or two. One of only two players who made 20 or more passes to get to the 90 percent completion mark.

KHEPHREN THURAM – 5.5. Oh, if he hadn’t snatched at that chance in extra time. It was a great run. Also made a key pass, and probably should’ve been on earlier.

KENAN YILDIZ – 5. Made one pass that could’ve won the tie had it not been intercepted before it got to Vlahovic, but couldn’t make any of his crosses count and didn’t get a sniff at the goal either.

DUSAN VLAHOVIC – 5.5. Desperately unlucky to put the ball off the post in the middle of extra time and had a key pass as well. Was in a couple of other positions where the right pass might’ve put him somewhere interesting.

SAMUEL MBANGULA – 6. Made a pair of key passes, including the delicious cross that Vlahovic banged off the post, and made three tackles on the back end in just 30 minutes. Another guy who might have gone in earlier.

MANAGER ANALYSIS

As I mentioned at the start, Thiago Motta started this game all wrong. It’s expected that the team trailing in a two-legged tie would be ready to come roaring out of the gates, but Motta was far too conservative in this game, too willing to let PSV come at him.

That simply isn’t Motta. As much as he talks about the foundation of his system being a solid defense, that solidity is there as much to serve the attack as it is to defend for its own sake. Motta accepted far too much pressure in the game’s early phases, and it came back to bite him. It’s perhaps ironic that PSV’s first goal came on a lightning counterattack, but the rest were the product of being too reactive as opposed to proactive. Had Juve taken the initiative and scored early, they could’ve squeezed the life out of the tie.

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His in-game handling was also questionable. Thuram and Mbangula were stripped off ready to come on when Weah scored and put Juve back in front on aggregate, but Motta’s reaction to immediately send both of them back to warmups was a mistake. Thuram in particular should’ve come on anyway, especially if Koopmeiners wasn’t 100 percent coming into the game. Juve had needed some juice in midfield for most of the half, and pairing Thuram and Locatelli — the best pivot combo he’s had this season — could have allowed the team some more control in that area at a critical point in the game. González wasn’t exactly showing himself to be at his best either, and Mbangula coming on should’ve been the choice.

That brings us to the other real head-scratcher for this game. When he made his triple sub with 15 minutes to go in normal time, he shuffled the team into an alignment that wasn’t optimal for his players. Pushing Cambiaso into the pivot along with Thuram was a mystifying move. As versatile as Cambiaso has proved over his career, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him play in a two-man midfield before, and he’d already played more minutes than Motta had probably wanted him to by that point because of the injury to Veiga. Savona again playing on his off side didn’t help either.

Motta made mistakes in this match — as did some of the players. While it’s anger-inducing to watch yet another early Champions League exit against a team that they really ought to have advanced against, it’s wise to remember that given the extreme transitory nature of this season, it was always going to be the time for mistakes to be made. What’s important, for both manager and players, is that those mistakes are learned from. The players need to learn how to execute and handle the pressure from this kind of match, and Motta needs to take this result and use it as a reminder not to stray from how he operates.

LOOKING AHEAD

Juve now must focus on their mission of making the top four to qualify for next year’s Champions League. The first step in that journey is a match with Cagliari in Sardinia on Sunday. Then they make a foray back into the Coppa Italia with the quarterfinal match against Empoli, followed by a home game against relegation-threatened Hellas Verona.