As they began the second half of the UEFA Champions League\u2019s League Phase, Juventus knew that a victory was vital. Three points in four games left them out of the playoff spots, and their next two fixtures, against Bod\u00f8-Glimt and Pafos, were must-wins to accumulate as many points as possible before ending the schedule with Benfica (cursed) and Monaco (tricky).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
But going to Bod\u00f8 to face the reigning Norwegian champions, who have two more matchdays domestically to try to overcome a one-point deficit against Viking for the Eliteserien title, is not an easy task. The team is plucky and well coached, and the artificial pitch can be tricky to play on. Oh, and did we mention it was late-November in Scandinavia? The temperature at the Aspmyra Stadion in Bod\u00f8 hovered around freezing, with the wind chill dipping underneath. The snow pregame was so bad that Damien Comolli and Giorgio Chiellini got stuck in Sweden as they tried to fly to the game. It was piled up around the pitch, and more of the white stuff came down as the game went on.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Not ideal conditions, especially not for a must-win game for a team whose form has been lackluster.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
An experimental, rotated squad added to the air of uncertainty as the game kicked off \u2014 and uncertainty turned into utter disdain when Juventus completely flopped in the first half. They couldn\u2019t string passes together at all, boxed in by the press and, when they managed to get the ball toward Bod\u00f8\u2018s half of the field, looked completely unable to find any seams to pass the ball.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
They left the field to the remonstrations of the Juve fans that had braved the trip north. But in the locker room Luciano Spalletti must have said something that truly lit a fire under the players\u2019 backsides. That, and he introduced Kenan Yildiz from the bench, completely turning the game on its head and helping turn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead within 15 minutes. They came agonizingly close to putting the game away as time ticked down, but they couldn\u2019t get that third goal, and when Juan Cabal planted his cleats into Sondre Auklend\u2019s shin in the penalty area three minutes from time, it looked like Juventus had thrown away another win.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
But just as the clock ticked into stoppage time, Yildiz went on another marauding run, and when his shot was saved, Jonathan David was there for the rebound, giving the Bianconeri another late result in this year\u2019s Champions League and, at long last, their first win in Europe this year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Spalletti had promised some squad rotation in his pre-match press conference, and he delivered on that, making five changes to his 3-4-2-1 from Saturday\u2019s disappointing draw in Florence. He was desperately thin in the back, as Bremer and Daniele Rugani were still injured and Federico Gatti stayed home with the flu, and Carlo Pinsoglio remained out as well. Mattia Perin was given a turn in goal, with Pierre Kalulu, Lloyd Kelly, and Teun Koopmeiners screening him. Weston McKennie and Andrea Cambiaso took up the wing-back spots, while Vasilije Adzic got a surprise start alongside Manuel Locatelli. Francisco Concei\u00e7\u00e3o and Fabio Miretti took station behind Lo\u00efs Openda as the main striker.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Kjetil Knutsen has developed Bod\u00f8-Glimt into a team no one in Europe wants to play, especially in the frozen north, and himself into a hot name on the coaching circuit. He was missing defender Jostein Gunderson to suspension, while Haitam Aleesami played hurt and standout winger Jens Petter Hauge was only fit for the bench due to illness. Knutsen went with a 4-3-3 formation. Nikita Haiken stood at the base of the formation, fronted by Fredrik Sj\u00f8vold, Aleesami, Odin Bj\u00f8rtuft, and Fredrik Bj\u00f8rkan. Patrick Berg, Sondre Fet, and H\u00e5kon Evjen made up the midfield, and Isak M\u00e4\u00e4tt\u00e4 and Ole Didrik Blomberg flanked Kasper H\u00f8gh up front.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Bod\u00f8 were the clear aggressors in the early going, executing a relentless press that prevented Juve from getting out of their own half. Berg had a ball blocked into the hands of Perin by McKennie, but it was Concei\u00e7\u00e3o who had the first real chance on the other end when he cut inside and and forced Haiken into a diving parry.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
As the first half wore on, Bod\u00f8 simply looked like they were toying with Juve. They could hardly get through their press, and when they did, the Norwegians defending was disciplined and deprived them of any entrances into the box. But it was still Juve who got the closest to goal over the first 25 minutes, when Adzic tried an audacious volley off a cross from Concei\u00e7\u00e3o. The ball ended up coming off his knee, but it still came tantalizingly close to going in before landing on the roof of the net.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n But the hosts were very much the team in control, and after forcing a succession of blocked shots, they went ahead on a corner in the 27th minute. It was a complete failure of defense, as Blomberg, starting from the top of the box, completely evaded the attention of every<\/em> Juventus defender, popping up completely unmarked to half-volley a flick from H\u00f8gh in from point blank range. Perin tried to get big and did get a foot on it, but the ball kept going into the net, giving Bod\u00f8 a deserved lead.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Despite Bod\u00f8\u2019s dominance, Juve made an attempt to respond, and Concei\u00e7\u00e3o had another close call in the 31st minute when Bj\u00f8rtuft deflected his shot a whisker wide of the upright, and a minute later Adzic nearly surprised Haiken with a near-post header that required another dive to keep away. Bod\u00f8 wanted a penalty on the other end, but Berg\u2019s shot had gone off Locatelli\u2019s ribcage before deflecting to his hand. Concei\u00e7\u00e3o had one last run at Haiken at the very end of the half when McKennie rolled one to him, but he put it right at the keeper.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Consternation was the emotion of the moment as the teams went back into the locker room, Juve having been soundly outplayed in the first 45 minutes. When they emerged, Yildiz replaced Adzic, and within three minutes he\u2019d helped Juve get level. After playing a give-and-go with Locatelli on the left, he sent a pass in for Miretti. Miretti was blatantly tripped in the box, but Dutch referee Danny Makkelie waved off Juve\u2019s penalty appeals. Locatelli, playing until the whistle, chased after the loose ball and laid it back to Yildiz, whose shot was deflected into the path of Openda, who gladly tapped in his first goal in a Juventus shirt.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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